As You Read and Write It: The Simple Past – Part One

Berlin, Alexanderplatz  Mai 1945 - 2015

As you look back, you see the irretrievable past. In language terms, it is called simple past. In German it is called Präteritum, mostly used in written language.

The simple past or Präteritum describes an activity in the past that does not continue anymore. It happened, it is finished, a one-time event. When we speak we often use the perfect tense, a combination of an auxiliary verb and a participle.

Present tense: Ich wohne in Kreuzberg.

Perfect tense (as we speak – so to speak): Ich habe in Kreuzberg gewohnt.

Simple past (as you would write it in your memoir): Ich wohnte in Kreuzberg.

Regular verbs change differently than irregular verbs.

Verbs like singen, trinken, essen, sprechen, bringen, rufen etc. are old words and therefore irregular verbs and as such they do not follow the modern rules of verb declension. It changes its vowel.

Regular verbs like wohnen, on the other hand, are easy fellows. Ad a –t or an –et and they are gone from the present.

Wir wohnen, wir wohnten, ich wohne, ich wohnte; er, sie, es wohnt; er, sie, es wohnte.
Wir sagen, wir sagten. Ich sage, ich sagte. Ihr sagt, ihr sagtet.

Here are two more examples of regular verbs in simple past, probably the most common activities in spring time in Berlin: lieben and hoffen.

ich liebte                     hoffte
du liebtest                   hofftest
er, sie, es liebte           hoffte
ihr liebtet hofftetwir, Sie, sie liebten     hofften

We treat all new verbs that enter the language as regular verbs.

Gina googelte Martin. Sie twitterte, dann flirtete sie mit ihm.