3.8 The simple past of sein, haben, and the modals — Epoché
What you will be able to do Use the one-word past of sein , haben and the six modal verbs — the eight verbs that spoken German most clearly keeps in the old past tense. Say why these eight above all, which is a question with a real answer rather than a list to accept. Build the modal past from the infinitive by removing the two dots and adding the weak ending, and name the one modal where a consonant changes too. Recognise the endings of the one-word past, including the two rows that have no ending at all, and connect that fact to the shape of the modal present from lesson 3.4. Prerequisites : 3.7 — the endings of the one-word past, seen once on a strong verb; and the present tense of all eight verbs here, from lessons 3.2 and 3.4. Lesson 3.5 told you that spoken German uses the compound past. That is the most useful generalisation in this volume, and its main exceptions are eight verbs: the verb for "to be", the verb for "to have", and the six modal verbs. For those eight, speakers use the one-word past in the most casual conversation, and the compound form often sounds strained. A few other frequent verbs lean the same way in speech, among them the verb for "to know" a fact and the past of the phrase for "there is". These eight are among the most frequent verbs in German. You cannot follow a conversation about the past without them. You have all eight in English too: was and were ; had ; could , must , would , might , should , and the vanished past of dare . Why these eight Two reasons, one about frequency and one about structure. Frequency protects. A form said fifty times a day is never rebuilt by analogy, because nobody has to guess it. That is why the commonest verbs in German and English are the irregular ones. The compound form is clumsy for a modal. The compound past of a modal with a second verb puts two infinitives in a row at the end of the sentence: the helper, then everything else, then the main verb's infinitive, then the modal's infinitive. Grammars call this the double infinitive. It is correct, occasionally necessary, and awkward enough that speakers avoid it whenever they can — by using the one-word past. So a modal with an object and no second verb can take the compound past comfortably, but a modal with a second verb almost always appears in the one-word past. The more there is at the end of the sentence, the more likely the short form. For "to be" and "to have" the reason is frequency, plus the fact that their compound forms are built on themselves, which feels redundant. Their one-word past is preferred in speech; their compound past, while correct, has a faint air of the south. The verb meaning "to become", from lesson 3.2, also has a one-word past common in speech, as the third of the helpers. Treat it as a ninth item. Table Three tables: the two verbs from lesson 3.2, and one modal that the other five follow exactly. Person One-word past — sein , to be 1 sg ich war 2 sg du warst 3 sg er, sie, es war 1 pl wir waren 2 pl ihr wart 3 pl sie waren Person One-word past — haben , to have 1 sg ich hatte 2 sg du hattest 3 sg er, sie, es hatte 1 pl wir hatten 2 pl ihr hattet 3 pl sie hatten Person One-word past — können , to be able to 1 sg ich konnte 2 sg du konntest 3 sg er, sie, es konnte 1 pl wir konnten 2 pl ihr konntet 3 pl sie konnten Now the eight words in the third person singular, the form to memorise. Infinitive Third person singular, one-word past sein — to be war ; no ending, and a stem unrelated to the infinitive haben — to have hatte ; the weak ending, with the consonant of the infinitive worn down können — to be able to konnte ; two dots removed, weak ending added müssen — to have to musste ; two dots removed, weak ending added dürfen — to be allowed to durfte ; two dots removed, weak ending added mögen — to like mochte ; two dots removed, and ★the consonant changes as well sollen — to be supposed to sollte ; nothing to remove, weak ending added wollen — to want to wollte ; nothing to remove, weak ending added Five of the eight are built in one step: take the infinitive, remove the two dots if there are any, and add the weak ending. The verb for liking does the same but also changes g to ch . Only the first two have to be learnt as words. How to read the endings The endings of the one-word past are: nothing, -st , nothing, -en , -t , -en . Against the present-tense endings from lesson 3.1, only the first and third have changed — by disappearing. Those two empty cells are the signature of an old Germanic past, and they explain why the modals have no ending in the first and third persons singular of the present : their present is an old past. Put the present of a modal beside the one-word past of a strong verb from the last lesson, and the endings are identical. A weak verb — all of the eight here except the verb for "to be" — inserts -te- between the stem and those endings: the first and third persons singular end in that syllable, the second person singular adds -st , and the plurals add the ordinary endings. That is why the forms in the middle table seem to end in a vowel: they end in the weak marker, not a personal ending. The verb for "to be" uses a stem with no visible connection to its infinitive — the root that gave English was and were . Learn the six forms as six words; they are short, and four of them are the same syllable with an ending. Spelling: the two dots disappear in the one-word past of every modal that has them. After the present tense, where five modals change vowel between singular and plural, learners expect something similar. But the past has one stem for all six persons, without dots. A past-tense modal with two dots has imported the present tense. One genuine ambiguity: two modals have a one-word past spelt exactly like their hypothetical form, the counterpart of English would and should . Only context distinguishes a plain past from a hypothesis. Just notice it for now, so the hypothetical forms are not new when you meet them. In r