“ist gefegt” vs. “hat gefegt”

Question

I’m assuming the following translations are reasonable:

Sie fegte über die Bühne. → She swept across the stage.

Sie fegte die Bühne. → She swept the stage.

The conjugation in an online resource gives these two alternatives: ist gefegt and hat gefegt.

Would I be right in surmising that the first alternative applies to the first usage above and the second to the second? Thus:

Sie ist über die Bühne gefegt.

Sie hat die Bühne gefegt.

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:52

Your surmise seems right to me.

One of the cases where one should use "sein" for perfect tense is:

With action verbs that denote a change of place and not necessarily just movement, e.g. tanzen

So, in your example, the verb "fegen" is conjugated in perfect tense using "sein" when it denotes a change of place or movement. For the other usage it's conjugated using "haben":

Sie ist über die Bühne gefegt: She swept across the stage.

Sie hat die Bühne gefegt: She swept the stage.

Also, reading an article about "Sein" and "Haben" would be helpful.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 01 '11 at 19:38

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As a native speaker, my first thought was: you're right. "Sie fegte über die Bühne." translates as "She ran across the stage.", which describes a movement like "Sie ist gelaufen" ("She walked"). Whereas the second "Sie fegte die Bühne" means - as you wrote - "She swept the stage", which is more of a crafting act like "She painted the stage" ("Sie hat die Bühne gestrichen").

answered Dec 01 '11 at 19:38

Coffinwood Blackheim

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But what about "ist" versus "hat"? Is my surmise correct? I.e. "ist" is used when it's like "laufen" and "hat" when it's like "strichen"? – Michael Hardy Dec 01 '11 at 19:45
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The way you said "my first thought was [...]" made me expect a sentence like "but then I changed my mind"! – Dec 01 '11 at 19:53
@Gigili, I wanted to express the sudden feeling of "correctness" I had when I read the question. – Coffinwood Blackheim Dec 01 '11 at 19:57
@CoffinwoodBlackheim: I see, I only got the impression, no offence. – Dec 01 '11 at 20:15

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 03 '11 at 22:34

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Ja, die Vermutung ist absolut richtig.

Sie ist über die Bühne gefegt.

means acting,

Sie hat die Bühne gefegt.

means to do the cleaning.

answered Dec 03 '11 at 22:34

Lexi

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“ist gefegt” vs. “hat gefegt”

3 Answers3