3.9 The simple past (Präteritum) — weak verbs — Epoché
What you will be able to do Form the simple past, the Präteritum , of any regular verb by adding -te and the person endings: ich machte, du machtest, wir machten . Insert the extra -e- where the stem ends in -t or -d : er arbeitete , sie antwortete . Use the mixed verbs, which change their vowel and still add -te : dachte, brachte, wusste, kannte — the German counterparts of thought and brought . Know when German uses this tense: in writing and storytelling, much less in conversation. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the German aloud; all of them come back below. German English Auf einmal begann es stark zu regnen. [1] All at once it began to rain heavily. Sie machten immer Witze. [2] They were always making jokes. Ich denke, es wird bald regnen. [3] I think that it's going to rain soon. Er fragte sie, wo sie lebte. [4] He asked her where she lived. Er fragte mich, wo mein Onkel lebte. [5] He asked me where my uncle lived. Während es regnete, sah ich, wie er rannte. [6] I saw him running while it was raining. Prerequisites : 4.12 — you need the perfect tense from 3.5 Verbs , the simple past of sein , haben and the modals from 3.8 Verbs , and the person endings of the present from 3.1 Verbs . In the first phase you learned to talk about the past with the perfect, ich habe gemacht , because that is what Germans use when they speak. Only eight very common verbs used the simple past in speech: war, hatte and the modals. Now you need the simple past of all verbs, because it is the tense of written German. Every novel, every news report and every history book tells its story in it. The good news for English speakers is that the regular form is built in exactly the same way as the English past in -ed . Table A regular, or weak, verb forms its simple past by adding -te to the stem, then a person ending. The person endings are the same as those of the modals in the past, which you already know from konnte and wollte . Person machen, to make arbeiten, to work Ending ich machte arbeitete -te du machtest arbeitetest -test er, sie, es machte arbeitete -te wir machten arbeiteten -ten ihr machtet arbeitetet -tet sie, Sie machten arbeiteten -ten The mixed verbs combine a vowel change with the regular -te . There are only a handful, and they are among the most common verbs in the language. Infinitive Simple past English denken dachte think — thought bringen brachte bring — brought wissen wusste know — knew kennen kannte know, be acquainted with — knew nennen nannte name, call — named rennen rannte run — ran How to read the endings The -t- is the past. Find the t after the stem and you have found the tense. Everything after it is the person: nothing, -st , -n or -t , after the linking -e- . No ending in the first and third person singular. ich machte and er machte are identical, as in the past of the modals. In the present they differ, ich mache and er macht ; in the past they never do. This is worth remembering because the third-person -t of the present can make er macht and er machte sound close in fast speech: listen for the final vowel. The plural looks like the present plural with a t . wir machen — wir machten , ihr macht — ihr machtet . That makes the past easy to spot in a text: if a familiar verb form has an unexpected t before its ending, it is past. The extra -e- . When the stem ends in -t or -d , or in a consonant cluster that would be hard to say with -te , an -e- is inserted before -te : arbeitete , antwortete , öffnete , regnete . Without it the t of the past would merge with the t of the stem, and the past would sound like the present. Where the person ending meets the -te . Because ich and er share one form, German texts in the past rely on the subject to show who is acting. In a story told in the third person that causes no difficulty; you simply read sagte , fragte , antwortete again and again. In real sentences Regular verbs. German English Ich machte Tee. [7] I made tea. Ich wohnte dort. [8] I lived there. Er kaufte Brot. [9] He bought bread. Wir lachten. [10] We laughed. Sie spielten Spiele. [11] They played games. Ich wartete. [12] I was waiting. Ich dachte, du machtest Witze. [13] I thought you were joking. The last sentence has the rare du form, du machtest . You will meet it mostly in reported thoughts and in letters. With the extra -e- . German English Er arbeitete. [14] He was working. Wir arbeiteten. [15] We were working. Sie antwortete ihm. [16] She answered him. Es regnete. [17] It was raining. Mixed verbs. German English Ich dachte an ihn. [18] I thought about him. Sie brachte einen Besen. [19] She brought a broom. Ich wusste es. [20] I knew it. Ich kannte ihn. [21] I knew him. The opening of a story. The simple past is the tense of storytelling, and every fairy tale begins with it. German English Es war einmal ein alter Mann. [22] Once upon a time, there lived an old man. How English does it German -te and English -ed are one ending. The regular past in all Germanic languages is formed with a dental consonant, d or t , added to the stem. This was the great invention of early Germanic: older Indo-European languages had no such ending, and Latin and Greek form their pasts quite differently. Played and spielte , lived and lebte , laughed and lachte are built in the same way. When you see a German verb with -te , think -ed . The mixed verbs are the English irregulars thought, brought . English has the same small group: verbs that change their vowel and also add the dental. Think — thought and denken — dachte , bring — brought and bringen — brachte are not merely similar; they are the same old pairs, with the same gh where German has ch . English uses its simple past for everything; German does not. This is the important difference in use. English says I bought bread whether writing a novel or chatting. German speakers, especially in the south, use the perfect in conversation: ich habe Brot gekauft . The simple past is the narrative and written tense. In