Day 30 - the present perfect

Question 1

There are two main forms of past tense in German, just like English, called

 Präteritum / Imperfekt (preterite / simple past) and 
 Perfekt (present perfect). 

Unlike English, German uses the simple past for writing, and the present perfect for speaking.

There are a few exceptions, if you are telling a long story, it’s okay to switch to the simple past.

To make the present perfect tense, English uses have + past participle.
German uses sein or haben + past participle.

 I ate eggs. Ich habe Eier gegessen.

 Use sein when the verb shows motion, movement, or a change in state.  (gewesen)
 Verbs like gehen, sterben, and sein, will use sein instead of haben.

 I went to Hamburg. Ich bin nach Hamburg gefahren.

Like modal verbs and the future tense, using sein or haben will send the main verb to the end of the sentence.

When sein and haben were first introduced in this book, the participles were not included.
Sein is irregular, the participle is gewesen.
The participle of haben is formed like a weak verb, gehabt.

Question 2

To conjugate the past participle, add the prefix ge-.
1. Verbs starting with a vowel add geg-.
2. If a verb has a separable prefix, ge- goes in the middle.
3. If a verb starts with (and has stress on the 2nd syllable)
be-
pro-
ver-
zer-
OR ends with -ieren, don’t add ge-.

If you have trouble remembering this, another way to remember it, is that:
verbs with stress on the second syllable don’t add ge-.

Some strong verbs also have a vowel change.
Weak verbs will drop -en and add -t.
Weak verbs that end in -ten will drop -en and add -et.

Question 3

Infinitive → Participle
Add ge-, weak verbs drop -en add -t.

 gehen → gegangen (vowel change) 
 essen → gegessen (geg-) 
      …Verbs starting with a vowel add geg-.
 anrufen → angerufen (separable prefix)   
      …separable prefix, ge- goes in the middle.
 fragen → gefragt   
      …Weak verbs will drop -en and add -t.
 antworten → geantwortet (add -et)
      …Weak verbs will drop -en and add -t.
      …separable prefix, ge- goes in the middle.
 zerstören → zerstört (no ge-)
      …Weak verbs will drop -en and add -t
      …If a verb starts with 
           be- 
           pro- 
           ver- 
           zer- 
      or ends with 
           -ieren, 
      don't add ge-

Question 4

träumen von…to dream about

Question 5

auf.räumen…to tidy up

Answer 5

putzen
saubermachen
reinigen

Question 6

putzen…to clean, to wipe, to polish

Question 7

sauber.machen…to clean

Question 8

reinigen…to clean, to purify

*The adjective sauber means clean. The adjective rein means pure.
Reinecke = 19th century composer

Question 9

reiten…to ride. RITT, GERITTEN

Question 10

drücken…to press, to push

*Drücken is used when you press things like buttons.

Answer 10

drücken…to press-push
stoßen…to push-kick
schieben…non-violent push

Question 11

stoßen…to press, to kick. STIEß, GESTOßEN
stößt

*Stoßen has a feeling of disturbing or causing harm.

Answer 11

drücken…to press-push
stoßen…to push-kick
schieben…non-violent push

Question 12

schieben…to push. SCHOB, GESCHOBEN

*Schieben is used in all normal, non-violent forms of pushing.

Answer 12

drücken…to press-push
stoßen…to push-kick
schieben…non-violent push

Question 13

verstecken vor…to hide from

Answer 13

stecken = to put or stick something in
verstecken = to hide

Es ist gefährlich, die Finger in einen Toaster zu stecken.
Das Kind dachte, es wäre lustig, ein Spielzeug im Toaster zu verstecken.

Question 14

1. Did you dream about me?

Answer 14

Hast du von mir geträumt? (träumen von…to dream ABOUT)

Question 15

2. They tidied up the room.

Answer 15

Sie haben das Zimmer aufgeräumt.

Question 16

She cleaned the counter.

Answer 16

Sie HAT die Theke geputzt.

Question 17

4. He cleaned the floor.

Answer 17

Er hat DEN Boden saubergemacht.

Question 18

5. We purified the water.

Answer 18

Wir haben das Wasser GEreinigt.

To conjugate the past participle, add the prefix ge-.
Weak verbs will drop -en and add -t.

Question 19

6. I rode the horse.

Answer 19

Ich bin AUF DEM Pferd GERITTEN.

(Use sein when the verb shows motion, movement, or a change in state.)

Question 20

7. Did you press the button?

Answer 20

Hast du den Knopf gedrückt? HABEN SIE den Knopf gedrückt?

(drücken = pressing things like buttons)

for p.p., drop the -en, add the t, add ge- at the beginning

Question 21

8. The child pushed the little girl.

Answer 21

Das Kind hat das Mädchen GESTOßEN.

(stoßen…pushing to cause disturbance or harm)
(Use sein when the verb shows motion, movement, or a change in state.)

To conjugate the past participle, add the prefix ge-.

Question 22

9. I pushed the car.

Answer 22

Ich habe das Auto GESCHOBEN.

(schieben is non-violent pushing)

Question 23

10. I hid the present from my mother.

Answer 23

Ich habe das Geschenk vor meiner Mutter versteckt.

das Geschenk = D.O. = accusative = das (den, die, das, die)
Mütter = I.O. = dative (dem, der, dem, den)