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5.5.1.3: Conversational past of regular verbs

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    The participle forms of verbs can be used to build the conversational past, the past perfect and the subjunctive mood. They can also be used as adjectives.

    Rapunzel Was hast du gestern gemacht? What did you do yesterday?
    Dornröschen Ich habe mit Schneewittchen Tennis gespielt, und am Abend habe ich einen neuen Computer gekauft. Mein alter Laptop ist leider kaputt. I played tennis with Snow White and in the evening I bought a new computer. My old laptop is broken.
    Rapunzel Wieso hast du wieder einen neuen Computer gebraucht? Du hast vor drei Monaten einen neuen gekauft! Why on earth did you need a new computer again? You just bought a new one three months ago!
    Dornröschen Naja, das Magazin hat ihn gekauft. Meine Chefin hat meinen letzten Artikel 'Wie ist ein moderner Prinz im 21. Jahrhundert?' sehr geliebt! Well, the magazine bought it. My boss liked my last article 'What is a modern prince like in the 21st century?' very much!
    Rapunzel Oh wirklich? Oh, really?
    Dornröschen Ja, jetzt will sie zweimal so viele Artikel von mir haben! Yes, now she wants twice as many articles from me!
    Rapunzel Hmmm ... ich bin kein Genie, aber man braucht keinen zweiten Computer dazu, oder? Man muss einfach zweimal so schnell tippen, nicht wahr? Hmmm ... I am not a genius, but you don't need a second computer for that, do you? You only need to type twice as fast, don't you?

    vcp_02_01_cinderella-computer.gif

    Regular verbs form the participle by completely remodeling the infinitive form of the verb:

    1) take the infinitive     machen (make, do)
    2) remove the -en suffix mach
    3) replace it with the -t suffix macht
    4) add ge- prefix gemacht
    brauchen (need) => hat gebraucht
    fragen (ask) => hat gefragt
    haben (have) => hat gehabt
    holen (need) => hat geholt
    kaufen (buy) => hat gekauft
    klopfen (knock, e.g. on a door) => hat geklopft
    kochen (cook) => hat gekocht
    kriegen (get, also understand) => hat gekriegt
    lieben (love) => hat geliebt
    löschen (put out, as in fire) => hat gelöscht
    merken (notice) => hat gemerkt
    reisen (travel) => ist gereist
    sagen (say) => hat gesagt
    schaffen (manage) => hat geschafft
    setzen (set down) => hat gesetzt
    sorgen (care for) => hat gesorgt
    spielen (play) => hat gespielt
    suchen (look for) => hat gesucht
    wandern (go hiking) => ist gewandert
    wohnen (live, reside) => hat gewohnt
    wünschen (wish) => hat gewünscht

    The use of participle forms in constructing the conversational past

    When forming the conversational past, the participle is used with an auxiliary verb: a conjugated form of haben or sein. Most regular verbs take haben.

    exceptions:
    folgen – to follow (someone)
    klettern – to climb
    reisen – to travel
    wandern – to hike

    Regular verbs with stems ending in -d, -t, [consonant] + m, [consonant] + n

    Some regular verbs, whose stem ends with certain consonants (-d, -t, consonant + m, consonant + n), add an extra -E in between the stem and the -T suffix to form the participle. Just try pronouncing these participles without the -E!

    Rapunzel Wer hat geklingelt? Ach, Schneewittchen, du bist es. Hast du geduscht? Warum bist du so nass? Who rang the bell? Oh, Snow White, it's you. Have you showered? Why are you so wet?
    Schneewittchen Nein, Thilo und ich sind zum ersten Mal im Semester gewandert, und es hat am Spätnachmittag viel geregnet! No, Thilo and I went hiking for the first time this semester, and it rained a lot in the late afternoon!
    Rapunzel Ihr habt wirklich Pech gehabt! You had really crappy luck!
    Schneewittchen Naja, aber wenigstens habe ich nicht den ganzen Tag nur gearbeitet! Es hätte schlimmer sein können! Well, at least I didn't just work all day. It could've been worse!
    1) take the infinitive     warten (wait)
    2) remove the -(e)n) suffix wart
    3) replace with -(e)t suffix wartet
    4) add ge- prefix gewartet
    antworten (answer) => hat geantwortet
    arbeiten (work) => hat gearbeitet
    flirten (flirt) => hat geflirtet
    klingeln (ring; the bell) => hat geklingelt
    reden (talk, speak) => hat geredet
    regnen (rain) => hat geregnet
    retten (rescue) => hat gerettet

    This page titled 5.5.1.3: Conversational past of regular verbs was last modified on Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:56:49 GMT and is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Zsuzsanna Abrams and co-workers (Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning) .

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