The past tense in German is formed by using a helping verb (haben or sein) and a past participle. Verbs are categorized into 2 groups: Weak Verbs and Strong Verbs.

To form the past participle of a weak verb you remove the –EN ending andadd a –T to the end and a GE- to the beginning. Examples are:

A few verbs already have a prefix and therefore do not need a GE- added at the beginning. An example is:

To form a sentence in the past tense the helping verb (usually haben) is placed in the verb position (2^nd in a regular sentence, 1^st in a question) and the past participle of the action verb is placed at the end of the sentence. Examples are:

A very few verbs (intransitive verbs) use SEIN as the helping verb instead of haben. These are verbs that take no direct object. However, it is easier to remember that they usually show movement from one place to another. Examples are:

If the sentence involves a separable prefix verb, the GE is placed between the spearable portion of the verb (alread at the end) and the actual action verb. An example is:

1.I bought a book (kaufen)._______________________________________

2.We collected coins (sammeln).___________________________________

3.Hans listened to Jule.(hören).____________________________________

4.Kurt did the homework (machen)._________________________________

5.They played soccer (spielen)._____________________________________

6.I lived in Hamburg (wohnen).______________________________________

7.We visited friends (besuchen)_____________________________________

8.Heidi exchanged $100 (wechseln)__________________________________

9.Gabrielle cheated (mogeln)._______________________________________

10.We played cards (spielen)_______________________________________