The Präteritum Tense in German

The Präteritum, or simple past tense, is commonly used in written German (stories, history, news reports) and often with certain verbs in spoken language. There are three main types of verbs to consider: regular, irregular, and mixed verbs.

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs in the Präteritum are formed by adding specific endings to the verb root.
For example: machen (to do/make)

• Example:
  • Gestern machte ich meine Hausaufgaben.

Irregular Verbs

These verbs have changes in the stem in addition to special endings. Here are a few very common ones:

sein (to be)

haben (to have)

können (can, to be able to)

• Example:
  • Wir konnten das Problem lösen.
  • Er war gestern müde.

Mixed Verbs

Mixed verbs have a vowel change like irregular verbs but regular verb endings.

wissen (to know a fact)

werden (to become)

• Example:
  • Ich wusste die Antwort nicht.
  • Sie wurde Ärztin.

Usage in Sentences

• Letztes Jahr waren wir in Deutschland.
• Ich konnte gestern nicht kommen.
• Du wusstest die richtige Adresse.
• Wir mussten früh aufstehen.
• Er machte das Fenster zu.

For regular verbs: focus on the -te endings.
For irregular and mixed verbs: watch for both vowel changes and special endings.
In stories or written narratives, the Präteritum is the main way to talk about the past.
In conversation, only certain verbs like sein, haben, werden, and modal verbs (müssen, können, wollen, etc.) are common in the Präteritum; most others use the Perfekt instead.