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Preterite with "haben" & "sein" - Intermediate German with Herr Antrim #11
The two most important verbs in the German language are “haben” (to have) and “sein” (to be).
You have already learned these verbs in the present tense and in the present perfect tense,
but today we are talking about the preterite.
This tense is also known as the “imperfect”, the first past
(the present perfect is known as the second past),
or the simple past.
This tense earned that last name,
because it only uses one verb in comparison to the present perfect,
in which one uses “haben” or “sein” as a helping verb.
While the present perfect is mostly used when speaking,
the preterite is mostly used when writing.
With both tenses you express that an event has ended.
Technically speaking the present perfect is supposed to be used when the event is completely finished
and the preterite is used when the event is not complete.
As a rule of thumb you can say: Present perfect while speaking, preterite while writing.
Unfortunately it isn’t so simple sometimes.
Because the verbs “haben” and “sein” are used as helping verbs in the present perfect,
there are two forms of “haben” or “sein” in the same sentence.
Ich bin da gewesen. - I was there.
Ich habe einen Hund gehabt. - I had a dog.
Therefore the preterite is often used with “haben” and “sein” also when speaking.
The preterite is also one of the basic forms for the pluperfect and the subjunctive,
but we will have to put these topics on a shelf,
because we are not ready for that yet.
We start today with “haben”.
In the preterite, you conjugate “haben” like this.
ich hatte - I had
du hattest - you had
er, sie, es hatte - he, she, it had
wir hatten - we had
ihr hattet - you had
sie, Sie hatten - they, you had
Rainer used a few sentences with “haben” in the last video.
My buddy, Jim, had a birthday party.
He had almost all Ninja Turtle action figures.
Therefore he had a Ninja Turtle birthday party.
I never had a themed birthday party.
They also didn’t have that much money.
We had magnetic chess and chutes and ladders.
My family never had a motorcycle.
The verb “sein” is conjugated like this in the preterite:
ich war - I was
du warst - you were
er, sie, es war - he, she, it was
wir waren - we were
ihr wart - you were
sie, Sie waren - they, you were
In English there are often mix-ups between “was” and “were”,
because many people don’t understand the difference between “preterite” and “subjunctive”.
For example: If I was in the shopping center… -
Wenn ich im Einkaufszentrum war…
vs If I were in the shopping center… -
Wenn ich im Einkaufszentrum wäre…
In the first sentence, I was really in shopping center.
In the second sentence, I was not.
In German the counterparts of “was” and “were”
and their differences are more clearly distinguishable.
Here are a few examples with “sein” from the last video.
I was 9 years old.
Jim was my best friend.
My parents were not poor.
When I was eleven years old, I was bullied, because I was a so-called “Dirt Kid”.
When I was fourteen years old, my father graduated from the university.
Our financial problems were at an end.
When I was sixteen years old, my parents took us for the first time on a family trip.
I knew it was bit, but I didn’t think it was that gigantic.
Unfortunately, this memorial wasn’t finished yet, when we were there.
It was stinking boring.
Was that all?
This trip wasn’t just our first family trip, but also my first trip that went further than 100 miles.
Because none of these sentences use “du”, “ihr”, or “Sie”, I will now show a few other examples.
Because Germans are supposed to be efficient, I will use “haben” and “sein” in every sentence.
When I was in the fourth grade I had a bowl cut (hairstyle).
Did you have your own car when you were sixteen years old?
If my mother was home, my brother had no idea.
When we were in Munich, we didn’t have a dog.
Did you have enough time, when you were in the bank?
When it was Halloween, the children had too much chocolate.
It’s that easy.
If you can conjugate these two verbs in the preterite tense,
you can talk about or write in the past with “haben” and “sein”
If you are looking for online German lessons with native speakers,
you should check out Lingoda.
Their teachers are native speakers and their lessons are fantastic.
There is a link in the description for that.
In the next video Rainer will read a book in the airport.
This video will show you a lot of examples of the preterite tense.
In the next grammar lesson, I will talk about other verbs in the preterite.
If you are bored, you can click these links.