Edexcel International GCSE German (4GN1) · Grammar spine 7 of 10 — Imperfect and past narration
Mini-Lesson
Imperfect and past narration
German has a second past tense — the Präteritum (imperfect). It's the tense of writing and story-telling, but a handful of everyday verbs use it even in speech: war (was), hatte (had), es gab (there was), and the modals (konnte, musste). This lesson gives you all of them.
Work through each screen and answer the questions as you go. Collect ⭐ stars and press Start.
What it does
The written past — plus a few must-knows
Two past tenses, two jobs:
Perfekt (cluster 6) — the normal spoken past: Ich habe gespielt.
Präteritum — used in writing and narration, and always for a short list of high-frequency verbs, even out loud.
Learn these in the Präteritum now:sein → war, haben → hatte, es gibt → es gab, and the modals. You'll say and write these constantly.
The two you need most
war and hatte
sein → war (was)
ich war
du warst
er/sie/es war
wir waren
ihr wart
sie/Sie waren
haben → hatte (had)
ich hatte
du hattest
er/sie/es hatte
wir hatten
ihr hattet
sie/Sie hatten
Note the identical ich = er again: ich war / er war, ich hatte / er hatte. Es war schön ("it was lovely") is your go-to holiday phrase.
Quick check
Saying "I was"
?What is the most natural German for "I was tired"?
Type it
Your turn — "was"
1Write the er/sie/es imperfect form of sein ("was").
Hint: three letters, "w…" — and it's the same as the ich form.
"there was / there were"
es gab and friends
The imperfect of es gibt is es gab — and, like es gibt, it takes the accusative:
Es gab einen großen Markt. — There was a big market.
Es gab viele Touristen. — There were many tourists.
Das Wetter war schön und wir hatten viel Spaß. — The weather was nice and we had lots of fun.
Your holiday toolkit:es war, es gab, wir hatten — three imperfects that let you describe any past trip fluently.
Regular (weak) verbs
Weak imperfect: stem + -te-
For a regular verb, slot -te- between the stem and the ending:
machen → machte (did/made)
ich machte
wir machten
du machtest
ihr machtet
er/sie/es machte
sie/Sie machten
Same for all weak verbs:spielen → spielte, wohnen → wohnte, kaufen → kaufte. The ich and er forms match again.
Quick check
Weak imperfect
?What is the er imperfect form of machen (to do)?
Sort it
Pick the imperfect form
Type it
Your turn — a weak imperfect
2Write the er/sie/es imperfect form of spielen (to play).
Hint: stem spiel + -te.
Strong verbs
Strong imperfect: change the vowel
Strong verbs take no -te-. Instead the stem vowel changes, and ich and er have no ending:
infinitive
er form
gehen (to go)
er ging
kommen (to come)
er kam
fahren (to go/drive)
er fuhr
sehen (to see)
er sah
essen (to eat)
er aß
geben (to give)
er gab
Note the ß:essen → er aß keeps its ß. These strong forms are what make a written narrative flow.
Quick check
Strong imperfect
?What is the er imperfect form of gehen (to go)?
Sort it
Weak or strong?
Sort each imperfect: weak (adds -te) or strong (changes its vowel)?
Weak (-te)
Strong (vowel change)
Type it
Your turn — a strong imperfect
3Write the er/sie/es imperfect form of kommen (to come).
Hint: the vowel changes to a; three letters, no ending.
Modals in the past
konnte, musste, wollte…
Modals almost always use the Präteritum, even in speech. They add -te and drop the umlaut:
present
imperfect (er)
kann
er konnte (could)
muss
er musste (had to)
will
er wollte (wanted)
darf
er durfte (was allowed)
Umlaut gone:können → konnte, müssen → musste — no dots. The second verb still goes to the end: Ich konnte nicht kommen.
Quick check
Modal imperfect
?What is the er imperfect of müssen (to have to)?
Type it
Your turn — a modal imperfect
4Write the er/sie/es imperfect of können (to be able to).
Hint: drop the umlaut and add -te: könn → konn + te.
Which past tense?
Perfekt vs Präteritum
A simple rule of thumb for GCSE:
Speaking / short accounts → Perfekt: Ich habe Fußball gespielt.
Writing / narrating a story → Präteritum: Er ging in die Stadt und kaufte ein Buch.
Always Präteritum (even in speech): sein, haben, es gibt and the modals → war, hatte, es gab, konnte, musste.
Mix them naturally:Ich war in Berlin und habe das Museum besucht. — war (imperfect) for "was", Perfekt for the action.
Quick check
Which is natural?
?What is the normal way to say "there was a problem"?
Game · Match
Match the infinitive to its imperfect
Tap an infinitive on the left, then tap its er imperfect form on the right.
INFINITIVE
sein
haben
gehen
kommen
fahren
sehen
IMPERFECT
fuhr
war
sah
ging
hatte
kam
Type it
Your turn — "there was"
5Translate "There was a park" into the imperfect (der Park is masculine).
Hint: Es gab + accusative; masculine ein → einen.
Recap
Your imperfect toolkit
Must-knows:sein → war, haben → hatte, es gibt → es gab — used even in speech.
Strong verbs: change the vowel, no ending on ich/er (ging, kam, fuhr, sah, aß, gab).
Modals: add -te, drop the umlaut (konnte, musste, wollte, durfte).
Which tense: speak → Perfekt; write/narrate → Präteritum; the "must-knows" always Präteritum.
Next we join sentences together. Press Finish to see your score.
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