German Language Stack Exchange
German Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [past]

52 questions
5
votes
3 answers

"I was working" in German

How can I say "I was working." in German? I was thinking: Ich war arbeiten. But I feel that is totally wrong.
Thalatta
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3
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3 answers

Why do German speakers often use 'did' in the past when speaking English?

I don't understand what tense they are trying to convey in German when they say this e.g. I did see it instead of I have seen it - Ich habe es gesehen I saw it - Ich sah es Where are they getting the 'did' from?
adolf garlic
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2
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1 answer

Why are some imperfect verbs more frequently used than perfect?

I learned the rules for both as that the perfect is commonly used in conversational language and imperfect in books and writing. However, some common verbs, I see, are used in their imperfect in conversation e.g. sein, haben, wissen, and the modal…
Tom Edwards
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vote
2 answers

Is this sentence grammatically correct in the past tense?

I'm currently doing my German speaking assessment and I just want to make sure this sentence is right. Ich bin nach der Schule blieben mein Kunstbuch vollenden und meine Lehrerin hilft mir. I'm trying to say: I stayed after school to finish my…
KatieBell
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0
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1 answer

Interpreting past perfect in German

So I was talking to a friend who is A2 CEFR and they asked me to explain past perfect. I told them it refers to the things which happend way long back. Then, they asked me how they'd say the sentence "I passed school a long time back" in…
tryst with freedom
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1 answer

Usage of dass to construct the preterite of modal verbs

Write the following sentences in simple past: Ferdinand - das Projekt - nicht übernehmen wollen Frau Schneider - die Dienstreise - nach Portugal - absagen müssen A: Es ist schade, dass Ferdinand das Projekt nicht übernehmen wollte Es ist…
tryst with freedom
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Past forms of the Subjunctive

In this site three forms of creating subjunctive are explained. I list them: hätte + participle hätte + modal verb infinitive + verb infinitiv wäre + participle These seem to me as an imitation of the "present perfect" in the indicative. I wish…
tryst with freedom
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