How to Form & Use Irregular Verbs in the German Perfekt Tense

If you want to talk about the past in German, you need the Perfekt tense. If you want to do it with any style, you will need to learn how to use irregular verbs in the Perfekt tense. Today I’m going to explain how irregular verbs work in this tense and make it all make sense.

Make sure you know everything there is to know about the Perfekt tense with these articles!

Basics of the Perfekt Tense & Regular Verbs

Irregular Verbs in the Perfekt Tense

German Modal Verbs in the Past

Was hast du am Wochenende gemacht? - Perfekt Tense Listening Comprehension Practice

Du hast eine echt coole Party verpasst! - Perfekt Tense Listening Comprehension Practice

Review of Regular Verbs in the Perfekt Tense

Regular verbs, as I mentioned last week, generally add ge- to the front of the verb stem and -t to the end of it, changing verbs like “machen” into their Partizip 2 version “gemacht”.

Irregular verbs will mostly have ge- at the beginning and will only remove the ge- in the same situations as regular verbs would (i.e. verbs with inseparable prefixes).

Don’t forget that all verbs that end with -ieren are regular verbs, so those verbs don’t belong in this video about irregular verbs.

Irregular Verbs That Are Just ge- + Infinitive

The ending for irregular verbs, however, is not always a -t. Sometimes you add -en to the end of the stem. This is most prominent in the irregular verbs that look like the infinitive with ge- slapped on the front. For example:

backen - gebacken

Ich backe einen Kuchen. -
I am baking a cake.

Ich habe einen Kuchen gebacken. -
I baked a cake.

einladen - eingeladen

Quick Reminder: Verbs with separable prefixes will use ge- between the verb stem and the separable prefix.

Er lӓdt deine Mutter zum Abendessen ein. -
He is inviting your mother to dinner.

Er hat deine Mutter zum Abendessen eingeladen. -
He invited your mother to dinner.

anfangen - angefangen

Das Spiel fängt um 3 an. -
The game starts at 3.

Das Spiel hat um 3 angefangen. -
The game started at 3.

schlafen - geschlafen

Ich schlafe nicht gut in der Nacht. -
I don’t sleep well at night.

Ich habe nicht gut in der Nacht geschlafen. -
I didn’t sleep well at night.

sehen - gesehen

Wir sehen deinen Bruder im Kino. -
We are seeing your brother at the movie theater.

Wir haben deinen Bruder im Kino gesehen. -
We saw your brother at the movie theater.

geben - gegeben

Sein Vater gibt ihm ein Auto. -
His father is giving him a car.

Sein Vater hat ihm ein Auto gegeben. -
His father gave him a car.

fahren - gefahren

I mentioned in my last lesson that “fahren” can be used with either “haben” or “sein” as a helping verb, so today I’ll show you both examples.

Fährst du mit dem Bus zur Schule? -
Do you ride the bus to school?

Bist du mit dem Bus zur Schule gefahren? -
Did you ride the bus to school?

Fährst du das Auto deines Vaters zur Schule? -
Are you driving your father’s car to work?

Hast du das Auto deines Vaters zur Schule gefahren? -
Did you drive your father’s car to school?

If you want to know why it is "deines Vaters" in this sentence, click here. 

essen - gegessen

This one is a bit different, because it adds an extra G between the initial ge- and the infinitive “essen”. This is simply there to aid in pronunciation.

Ihre Tochter isst kein Schnitzel. -
Her daughter doesn’t eat schnitzel (cutlet).

Ihre Tochter hat kein Schnitzel gegessen. -
Her daughter didn’t eat schnitzel (cutlet).

bekommen - bekommen

Since there is an inseparable prefix, be-, there is no ge- added.

Wir bekommen jedes Jahr eine Karte von unserer Tante. -
We get a card from our aunt every year.

Wir haben jedes Jahr eine Karte von unserer Tante bekommen. -
We got a card from our aunt every year.

Stem-Changes of Irregular Perfekt Tense Verbs

In addition to verbs that are essentially the infinitive with ge- added to the front, there are other irregular verbs that are just weird, because they often have stem changes and at first glance they can seem pretty random. For example:

wegnehmen - weggenommen

Fred nimmt mir mein Spielzeug weg. -
Fred is taking away my toy.

Fred hat mir mein Spielzeug weggenommen. -
Fred took away my toy.

aufstehen - aufgestanden

Er steht gegen 9 Uhr morgens auf. -
He gets up around 9 in the morning.

Er ist gegen 9 Uhr morgens aufgestanden. -
He got up around 9 in the morning.

beißen - gebissen

Charlie beißt mir in den Finger. -
Charlie is biting my finger.

Charlie hat mir in den Finger gebissen. -
Charlie bit my finger.

bleiben - geblieben

Die Kinder bleiben heute zu Hause. -
The children are staying home today.

Die Kinder sind heute zu Hause geblieben. -
The children stayed home today.

gehen - gegangen

Gehst du heute einkaufen? -
Are you going shopping today?

Bist du heute einkaufen gegangen? -
Did you go shopping today?

wissen - gewusst

Das weiß ich schon. -
I know that already.

Das habe ich schon gewusst. -
I knew that already.

How to Determine How an Irregular Verb Will Change in the Perfekt Tense

I know what you are thinking: "How am I supposed to remember the past tense forms of verbs if they follow no real rhyme or reason?"

It can seem that way at first, but when you take a step back and view a group of verbs together, you can often find some similarities and patterns. The easiest way to recognize these patterns is to include the simple past tense form of verbs along with the infinitive and the Partizip 2.

We call these three forms of the verb the "3 Principal Parts" of German verbs. I have a whole post that shows you the most common patterns and a ton of example sentences to go with it. Click the link at the top of this paragraph to get started with that lesson.

Make sure you know everything there is to know about the Perfekt tense with these articles!

Basics of the Perfekt Tense & Regular Verbs

Irregular Verbs in the Perfekt Tense

German Modal Verbs in the Past

Was hast du am Wochenende gemacht? - Perfekt Tense Listening Comprehension Practice

Du hast eine echt coole Party verpasst! - Perfekt Tense Listening Comprehension Practice