A1 Grammar · Unit 11 · Topic 24 of 30
German Past Tense: sein and haben (war, hatte)
About 3 minutes · tables, common mistakes and practice with answers
In short
To say where you were or what you had in German, use the simple past for these two verbs. Even in speech, people use war and hatte instead of the Perfekt.
हिंदी में समझें
बीते समय में sein → war (था), haben → hatte (के पास था)। बोलचाल में ये रूप Perfekt से ज़्यादा इस्तेमाल होते हैं।
Learn the German past tense for was and had. To say where you were or what you had in German, use the simple past for these two verbs. Even in speech, people use war and hatte instead of the Perfekt. This is one of the most essential German grammar rules for A1.2.
Sein becomes war. Haben becomes hatte. The ich and er/es/sie forms are identical. The other endings follow the present pattern: -st, -en, -t, -en.
| sein | sein (past) | haben | haben (past) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ich | bin | war | habe | hatte |
| du | bist | warst | hast | hattest |
| er/es/sie | ist | war | hat | hatte |
| wir | sind | waren | haben | hatten |
| ihr | seid | wart | habt | hattet |
| sie/Sie | sind | waren | haben | hatten |
Gestern war ich in Pune.·Geeta hatte Fieber.·Wir waren im Kino.·Warst du schon in Berlin?
Common Mistakes in German Past Tense: sein and haben (war, hatte)
Don't say "Ich habe gewesen." Just use war. And wart is only for ihr, not all plural forms.
Memory trick
The past stem for sein is "war-", for haben "hatte-". Learn the ich form; the rest follows the German grammar pattern you already know.
Practice
Fill in the blank.
- Gestern ___ ich müde.
- Mohan ___ keine Zeit.
- Wo ___ ihr am Sonntag?
Show answers
Answers: war, hatte, wart.