The English present perfect and past perfect tenses have both a habitual form and a progressive form in their conjugation.
habitual They have worked here.
They had worked here.
incomplete or progressive They have been working here.
They had been working here.
German has only one form for both meanings.
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Sie haben hier gearbeitet.
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They have worked here. They have been working here.
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Sie hatten hier gearbeitet.
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They had worked here. They had been working here.
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If the action of the verb began in the past and ended in the present, it is in the present perfect tense. If the action began in the past and ended in the past, the verb is in the past perfect tense.
Regular verbs
The German present perfect tense of regular verbs is formed from a conjugation of either haben or sein plus a past participle. The auxiliary haben is used with transitive verbs, and the auxiliary sein is used with intransitive verbs, verbs of motion, or verbs that show a change of state or condition. The past participle consists of the prefix ge- plus the stem of the infinitive and the ending -t; for example, the infinitive kaufen (buy) becomes ge- + kauf + -t, written as gekauft. Let’s look at another regular transitive verb, suchen, conjugated fully in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
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present perfect
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past perfect
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Ich
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habe gesucht
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hatte gesucht (have looked for, had looked for)
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du
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hast gesucht
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hattest gesucht
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er
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hat gesucht
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hatte gesucht
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wir
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haben gesucht
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hatten gesucht
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ihr
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habt gesucht
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hattet gesucht
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sie
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haben gesucht
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hatten gesucht
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If the verb requires the auxiliary sein, the formation of the participle remains the same. The only difference is the conjugation of the verb sein. But remember that the English translation of sein in the present perfect and past perfect tenses is still have or had. Let’s look at a verb of motion, reisen, conjugated fully in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
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present perfect
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past perfect
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Ich
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bin gereist
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war gereist (have traveled, had traveled)
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du
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bist gereist
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warst gereist
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er
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ist gereist
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war gereist
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wir
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sind gereist
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waren gereist
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ihr
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seid gereist
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wart gereist
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sie
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sind gereist
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waren gereist
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A large category of regular verbs have infinitives that end in -ieren. Often these words come to German from foreign sources. They are conjugated like other regular verbs in the present and past tenses.
But when verbs ending in -ieren become past participles in the present perfect or past perfect tenses, they do not have the prefix ge-. Let’s look at examples with the verbs studieren and marschieren.
But when verbs ending in -ieren become past participles in the present perfect or past perfect tenses, they do not have the prefix ge-. Let’s look at examples with the verbs studieren and marschieren.
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studieren (study)
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marschieren (march)
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Ich
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habe/hatte studiert
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bin/war marschiert
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du
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hast/hattest studiert
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bist/warst marschiert
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er
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hat/hatte studiert
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ist/war marschiert
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wir
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haben/hatten studiert
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sind/waren marschiert
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ihr
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habt/hattet studiert
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seid/wart marschiert
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sie
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haben/hatten studiert
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sind/waren marschiert
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Irregular verbs
The perfect tenses of irregular verbs require either haben or sein as the auxiliary, conjugated in the same way as with regular verbs. The difference is in the participle. Irregular participles are a combination of the prefix ge- plus an irregular stem and in most cases, the ending -en; for example, the verb sprechen (speak) becomes ge- + sproch + -en, written as gesprochen. Let’s look at another irregular transitive verb, finden, conjugated fully in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
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present perfect
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past perfect
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Ich
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habe gefunden
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hatte gefunden (have found, had found)
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du
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hast gefunden
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hattest gefunden
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er
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hat gefunden
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hatte gefunden
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wir
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haben gefunden
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hatten gefunden
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ihr
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habt gefunden
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hattet gefunden
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sie
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haben gefunden
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hatten gefunden
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If the verb requires the auxiliary sein, the formation of the participle remains the same. The only difference is the conjugation of the verb sein. Let’s look at a verb of motion, gehen, conjugated fully in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
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present perfect
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past perfect
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Ich
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bin gegangen
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war gegangen (have gone, had gone)
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du
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bist gegangen
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warst gegangen
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er
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ist gegangen
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war gegangen
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wir
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sind gegangen
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waren gegangen
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ihr
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seid gegangen
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wart gegangen
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sie
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sind gegangen
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waren gegangen
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Let’s look at haben, sein, and werden in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
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haben (have)
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past perfect
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werden (become)
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Ich
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habe/hatte gehabt
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bin/war gewesen
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bin/war geworden
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du
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hast/hattest gehabt
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bist/warst gewesen
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bist/warst geworden
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er
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hat/hatte gehabt
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ist/war gewesen
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ist/war geworden
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wir
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haben/hatten gehabt
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sind/waren gewesen
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sind/waren geworden
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ihr
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habt/hattet gehabt
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seid/wart gewesen
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seid/wart geworden
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sie
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haben/hatten gehabt
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sind/waren gewesen
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sind/waren geworden
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Some irregular verbs change the vowel in the stem of the participle but have a -t ending like a regular verb. For example:
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senden (send)
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nennen (name)
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rennen (run)
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Ich
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habe gesandt
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habe genannt
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bin gerannt
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du
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hast gesandt
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hast genannt
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bist gerannt
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er
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hat gesandt
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hat genannt
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ist gerannt
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wir
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haben gesandt
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haben genannt
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sind gerannt
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ihr
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habt gesandt
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habt genannt
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seid gerannt
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sie
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haben gesandt
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haben genannt
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sind gerannt
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Other irregular verbs that follow this pattern are:
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brennen
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gebrannt
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burn
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bringen
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gebracht
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bring
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denken
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gedacht
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think
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kennen
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gekannt
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know, be acquainted
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wenden
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gewandt
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turn
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wissen
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gewusst
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know
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Modal auxiliaries
The modal auxiliaries all use haben as their auxiliary in the present perfect and past perfect tenses. Also, they form their participles from the stem of the infinitive without an umlaut and unlike most other irregular verbs, end their participles in -t. For example:
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dürfen
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gedurft
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können
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gekonnt
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mögen
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gemocht
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müssen
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gemusst
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sollen
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gesollt
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wollen
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gewollt
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Used in sentences a modal in the present perfect tense looks like the following:
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Er hat Englisch gekonnt.
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He knew English.
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Wer hat das gewollt?
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Who wanted that?
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Just like the modal-auxiliary participles, the participles of all regular and irregular verbs stand at the end of the sentence.
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Ich habe ihm ein Fahrrad gekauft.
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I bought him a bike.
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Sind sie in die Schweiz gefahren?
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Did they travel to Switzerland?
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The present perfect tense is the preferred tense for making statements in the spoken language about things that have occurred in the past. The simple past tense is used more often in the written language.
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written language
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Er kam nach Hause.
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He came home.
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spoken language
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Er ist nach Hause gekommen.
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He came home.
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However, when stating that something has been occurring for a period of time or since a point in time, the present tense is used to convey this meaning, but the English translation is in the present perfect tense. For example:
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Ich wohne seit zehn Jahren in Bonn.
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I have been living in Bonn for ten years.
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Er ist seit zwei Wochen sehr krank.
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He has been very sick for two weeks.
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