gehen (to go)
Past Tense Forms
The German verb gehen conjugated in all its tenses
GEHEN: Present | Past | Future | Commands/Subjunctive | Verb List
|
gehen (to go) Simple Past Tense Imperfekt |
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| Note: The German Imperfekt (simple past) tense is used more in written form (newspapers, books) than in speaking. In conversation the Perfekt (pres. perfect) is preferred for talking about past events or conditions. | |
| DEUTSCH | ENGLISH |
| SINGULAR | |
| ich ging | I went |
| du gingst | you (fam.) went |
| er ging sie ging es ging |
he went she went it went |
| PLURAL | |
| wir gingen | we went |
| ihr gingt | you (guys) went |
| sie gingen | they went |
| Sie gingen | you went |
|
gehen (to go) Present Perfect Tense (Past) Perfekt |
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| Note: The verb gehen uses sein (not haben) as its helping verb in the Perfekt (pres. perfect). The German Perfekt of gehen can be translated either as "went" (English simple past) or "has gone" (English pres. perfect), depending on the context. | |
| DEUTSCH | ENGLISH |
| SINGULAR | |
| ich bin gegangen | I went, have gone |
| du bist gegangen | you (fam.) went, have gone |
| er ist gegangen sie ist gegangen es ist gegangen |
he went, has gone she went, has gone it went, has gone |
| PLURAL | |
| wir sind gegangen | we went, have gone |
| ihr seid gegangen | you (guys) went, have gone |
| sie sind gegangen | they went, have gone |
| Sie sind gegangen | you went, have gone |
|
gehen (to go) Past Perfect Tense Plusquamperfekt |
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| Note: To form the past perfect, all you do is change the helping verb (sein) to the past tense. Everything else is the same as in the Perfekt (pres. perfect) above. | |
| DEUTSCH | ENGLISH |
| SINGULAR | |
| ich war gegangen du warst gegangen ...und so weiter |
I had gone you had gone ...and so on |
| PLURAL | |
| wir waren gegangen sie waren gegangen ...und so weiter. |
we had gone they had gone ...and so on. |
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NEXT: Future Tense See more verbs on our 20 Most-Used German Verbs, German Strong Verbs and 50 Common German Verbs pages. |
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SEIN: Present | Past | Future | Commands/Subjunctive | Verb List
If you want to look at other irregular verbs in the simple past and present perfect, see our German Strong Verbs pages.
20 Most-Used German Verbs
Lektion 4B
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