A2-46 · Tell your learning history
Education paths
Compare Perfekt in conversation with Präteritum in written accounts and common spoken forms.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
Tell someone what you completed
Conversation often uses the Perfekt: Ich habe die Prüfung bestanden. The helping verb is conjugated and the participle goes at the end. Bestanden is the participle of bestehen.
Ich habe die Prüfung bestanden.
I passed the exam.
Mara hat ein Zeugnis bekommen.
Mara received a certificate.
Wir haben einen Kurs besucht.
We attended a course.
Ben ist zur Schule gegangen.
Ben went to school.
Die Prüfung means exam and das Zeugnis report or school certificate. Bekommen forms bekommen without ge-.
02
Recognize a written past account
A written biography often uses the Präteritum: Sie besuchte eine Schule. Regular verbs usually add -te. Irregular forms must be learned: gehen → ging, bestehen → bestand.
Sie besuchte eine Schule.
She attended a school.
Damals ging Ben zur Schule.
At that time Ben went to school.
Mara bestand die Prüfung.
Mara passed the exam.
Wir lernten jeden Tag.
We studied every day.
Both tenses can describe completed past events. The difference here is how the story is told, not whether an action finished.
03
Use common spoken past forms
War, hatte and modal forms such as musste are common in conversation too. You can say Ich musste lernen and Ich habe gelernt in the same account.
Ich war damals Schüler.
I was a school pupil then.
Mara hatte eine Prüfung.
Mara had an exam.
Ben musste viel lernen.
Ben had to study a lot.
Ich habe eine Ausbildung gemacht.
I completed vocational training.
Das Gymnasium is one type of secondary school, die Berufsschule a vocational school and die Ausbildung vocational training. These terms describe different paths.
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