When do you use the Präteritum?
The Präteritum expresses the past. In spoken language you rarely use it. It belongs mainly in books, texts, news articles, or formal speeches.
Only a handful of verbs appear regularly in the Präteritum even in conversation: sein, haben, all modal verbs, and a few others like denken, kommen, stehen, liegen, heißen, finden, fallen. For all others, you use the Perfekt in everyday speech.
In conversation, the Präteritum can quickly sound written or stiff. When in doubt: use the Perfekt, except with sein, haben, and the modal verbs.
Regular verbs
With regular verbs, you add -t to the verb stem, then the personal ending:
Verb stem + -t + personal ending
If the stem ends in -t or -d, an extra -e- is inserted: arbeiten → arbeitete, reden → redete.
Irregular verbs
With irregular verbs, the stem changes. The 1st and 3rd person singular are always identical and have no ending.
More irregular forms like denken → dachte, liegen → lag, geben → gab are listed on the irregular verbs page.
Modal verbs in the Präteritum
Modal verbs are almost always used in the Präteritum even in conversation. This sounds natural and not stiff.
sein and haben in the Präteritum
These forms appear everywhere. You need them in both written and spoken German.
Exercises
Three fill-in-the-blank exercises: modal verbs, sein and haben, irregular verbs.
Modal verbs in the Präteritum
Complete the modal verb in the Präteritum. The verb is given in parentheses.
sein and haben in the Präteritum
Fill in the correct Präteritum form.
Irregular verbs in the Präteritum
Fill in the correct Präteritum form.
Regular verbs in the Präteritum
Fill in the correct Präteritum form. With stems ending in -t or -d, watch out for the extra -e-.