The conversational past: weak verbs

Deutsch 2
Conversational Past –das Perfekt
GRAMMATIK
Name: ____________________________
Datum: ______________Stunde: ______
The conversational past is a past tense of verbs that is used mainly in conversation.
It consists of two words: 1) an auxiliary verb, usually haben, that changes to agree with
the subject; and (2) a past participle that does not change. The past participle is in last
position. z. B. Ich habe gestern Tennis gespielt.
The conversational past: weak verbs
A weak verb is one whose infinitive stem remains unchanged in the past tense forms. The
past participle of a weak verb has the same stem as the infinitive and adds –t. If the verb
stem ends in –d, or –t, an –et is added. Most past participles have the prefix ge-.
spielen - gespielt
wohnen - gewohnt
machen - gemacht
arbeiten - gearbeitet
fragen - gefragt
reden - geredet
Let’s try a few simple sentences for practice. These are all weak (‘regular’) verbs.
1. to make = _____________________ participle: _____________________
Did you make the bed? __________________________________________________
2. to clean up = _____________________ participle: _____________________
I cleaned up my room yesterday. ____________________________________________
3. to have = _____________________ participle: _____________________
Tom had a party on Monday. _______________________________________________
4. to cost= _____________________ participle: _____________________
How much did your bike cost? _____________________________________________
5. to wait = _____________________ participle: _____________________
I waited for 20 minutes! ___________________________________________________
6. to live=_____________________ participle: _____________________
We lived in Florida the entire summer. ______________________________________
7. to rain=_____________________ participle: _____________________
It rained yesterday. ______________________________________________________
8. to ask=_____________________ participle: _____________________
The teacher (f.) asked many questions. _______________________________________
***There are two exceptions to this nice regularity.
The first is that verbs that end in -ieren, like fotografieren, diskutieren, studieren, etc., do
NOT get a ge- prefix. (These verbs can be easily recognized as English-French cognates,
and they all end in -ieren, so it’s a pretty easy group to remember.)
studieren - studiert
fotografieren – fotografiert
reparieren - repariert
A. Rewrite each sentence in the conversational past.
1. Ich repariere Autos am Wochenende.
________________________________________________________________
2. Er fotografiert gern.
________________________________________________________________
3. Studierst du Deutsch?
________________________________________________________________
4. Mein Opa diskutiert Politik gern.
________________________________________________________________
B. Rewrite in the conversational past (present perfect). Then translate the
sentence into English.
1.Wo arbeiten Sie?
______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Ich kaufe den Pulli bei Macy’s.
__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Meine Schwester hört laute Musik.
_______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Das Kleid passt prima!
_________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Deutsch 2
Conversational Past –das Perfekt
Name: _______________________
Datum: ____________Stunde: ____
The conversational past: inseparable–prefix verbs
***The other exception is for inseparable prefixes. The prefixes be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, ver-,
and zer- are never separated from the verb. They are called inseparable prefixes. Inseparable
prefixes do not add the prefix ge- in the past participle.
besuchen - besucht
erleben - erlebt
verkaufen - verkauft
A. Rewrite each sentence in the conversational past.
1. Die Königin vergiftet Schneewittchen mit einem Apfel.
________________________________________________________________
2. Rotkäppchen besucht ihre Großmutter im Wald.
_________________________________________________________________
3. Der Prinz erlöst die Prinzessin mit einem Kuss.
________________________________________________________________
4. Die Hexe verwünscht gute Menschen.
________________________________________________________________
5. Ich verkaufe Autos.
________________________________________________________________
The conversational past: separable–prefix verbs
***What happens with separable-prefix verbs? In the past participle of separable prefix verbs,
ge- comes between the prefix and the stem of the participle.
Wir haben die Tür zugemacht. We closed the door.
Hast du dein Zimmer aufgeräumt? Did you clean up your room?
A. Rewrite each sentence in the conversational past.
1. Wir machen die Tür zu.
________________________________________________________________
2. Ich kaufe bei Aldi ein.
_________________________________________________________________
3. Macht ihr das Licht aus?
________________________________________________________________