German for Beginners
Lesson 18.3
Haus und Hof: zu Hause
German Verbs: The Present Perfect Tense
You are here:
Lesson 18: Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Web Links > Lesson 19
Weil das Wetter schön
war, haben wir im
Garten gesessen.
Foto © H. Flippo
In this section of Lesson 18, we'll look at household activities and the German present perfect tense. If we did some baking (backen) in the kitchen or watched TV (fernsehen) in the living room, then how do we express that?
Although we will present a brief overview of the present perfect tense here, if you need to study or review the present perfect, see our Verb Review 3 on that tense and our German Verbs section.
The Conversational Past - When Germans talk about what they have done in the past, they use the present perfect tense, also known as the “conversational past” because it is used more in spoken form than in writing. (The other past tense, the “simple past” or Imperfekt is used more in writing, but neither form is used exclusively in written or spoken German.)
The present perfect tense is a compound tense that gets its name from the fact that it combines two verb forms (making a compound) to express an action or condition in the past. The present is the present tense of the helping verb (haben or sein) that is combined with the past participle of the verb being used to form the Perfekt, and thus the present perfect tense. For example, to say “I worked on the computer” in German, you would say: “Ich habe am Computer gearbeitet.” The helping verb haben is in the present tense (conjugated to agree with ich) and combined with the past participle of arbeiten to form the present perfect.
Now let's try it out with some typical household activities.
| Was haben wir gemacht? What did we do? |
|
| abräumen abgeräumt to clear out, remove |
|
| aufräumen aufgeräumt to put in order, straighten up |
|
| backen gebacken to bake |
|
| hängen gehängt* to hang *also gehangen when at rest |
|
| kochen gekocht to cook |
|
| mähen gemäht to mow |
|
| öffnen geöffnet to open |
|
| putzen geputzt to clean |
|
| schlafen geschlafen to sleep |
|
| sitzen gesessen to sit |
|
| waschen gewaschen to wash |
|
| Verbs of Contrast Motion vs. At Rest Transitive and Intransitive |
|
| legen/liegen gelegt/gelegen lay (put)/lie |
|
| stellen/stehen gestellt/gestanden to put, place/stand |
|
| hängen/hängen gehängt/gehangen hang/be hanging |
WAS HABEN WIR GEMACHT?
On the left is an alphabetical list of verbs related to household activities. Each verb is shown in its infinitive form and with its past participle (backen/gebacken). Study these verbs, since we'll be using them in this activity. You may also want to review some of the previous vocabulary in parts One and Two, because we'll be using some of those terms as well.
Übung 2 - Wo hast du das gemacht? (Where'd you do that?)
• Wo? (I - watch TV) Ich habe im Wohnzimmer ferngesehen.
(I watched TV in the living room.)
• Wo? (she - bake) Sie hat in der Küche gebacken.
(She baked in the kitchen.)
Now, follow the examples above to complete this exercise.
1. Wo? (we - sit) _____________
2. Wo? (he - mow lawn) _____________
3. Wo? (I - wash) _____________
4. Wo? (they - sleep) _____________
5. Wo? (du - clean) _____________
6. Wo? (we - open window) _____________
7. Wo? (she - clear out) _____________
> Antworten (Answer Key)
Übung 3 - Wohin hast du das gestellt? (Where'd you put that?)
• Wohin? (put - mirror - table) Ich habe den Spiegel auf den Tisch gestellt.
(I put the mirror on the table.)
• Wohin? (hang - picture - wall) Ich habe das Bild an die Wand gehängt.
(I hung the picture on the wall.)
Now, follow the examples above to complete this exercise.
1. Wohin? (put - chair - office) _____________
2. Wohin? (hang - mirror - wall) _____________
3. Wohin? (put - computer - desk) _____________
4. Wohin? (put - vacuum - garage) _____________
5. Wohin? (lay - book - table) _____________
> Antworten (Answer Key)
NEXT > Web Links
BACK > Part 1 | Part 2
You are here:
Lesson 18: Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Web Links > Lesson 19
Also see:
Wohnungssuche und Immobilien
An annotated English-German glossary about housing and finding a place to live.
Previous Lesson (Lektion 17)
Next Lesson (Lesson 19)
German for Beginners - Contents
Free Course Newsletters
Receive weekly German lessons via email.
OUR GERMAN FORUMS