Rules and usage
The Perfekt tense is the most common way German speakers talk about completed actions in the past. It expresses what has happened or what you have done, and it is the conversational past tense used in everyday speech and informal writing.
When to use Perfekt
- Use Perfekt to describe past events or actions that feel connected to the present moment. It answers the question "What has happened?" or "What did you do?"
- Ich bin heute Morgen aufgewacht und habe Kaffee getrunken. (I woke up this morning and drank coffee.)
- Sie haben das Buch gelesen. (They have read the book.)
- Hast du deine Hausaufgaben gemacht? (Have you done your homework?)
- In spoken German, Perfekt is strongly preferred over Präteritum (simple past) except with modal verbs and the verbs sein, haben, and werden. The Perfekt tense is flexible and works for any recent or distant past event in informal contexts.
✅ Positive sentence examples
| German | English |
|---|
| Ich habe Wasser getrunken. | I drank water. |
| Sie ist zur Schule gegangen. | She went to school. |
⛔ Negative sentence examples
| German | English |
|---|
| Ich habe kein Wasser getrunken. | I didn't drink any water. |
| Sie ist nicht zur Schule gegangen. | She didn't go to school. |
❓ Question sentence examples
| German | English |
|---|
| Hast du Wasser getrunken? | Did you drink water? |
| Ist sie zur Schule gegangen? | Did she go to school? |