Use the imperfect tense in German when you want to say…

I did something

Ich machte etwas

…or…

I have done something

Ich machte etwas

…or…

I was doing something

Ich machte etwas

…or…

I used to do something

Ich machte etwas

Example;

I played tennis.

Ich spielte Tennis.

…or…

I have played tennis.

Ich spielte Tennis.

…or…

I was playing tennis.

Ich spielte Tennis.

…or…

I used to play tennis.

Ich spielte Tennis.

It is used mainly in writing for...

NARRATIVE, REPORTS

and ACCOUNTS

The imperfect forms of...

SEIN e.g. ich warand

HABEN e.g. ich hatteare however used more often

than the perfect forms (ich bin gewesen and ich habe gehabt) in

spoken German.

Which of the following would you use in writing?

Ich habe Hockey gespielt.

Ich spielte Hockey.

Which of the following would you use in writing?

Ich habe darüber nachgedacht.

Ich dachte darüber nach.

Would both of these...

1) Ich war in der Stadt.

2) Ich bin in der Stadt gewesen.

…be okay to use when speaking?

YES NO

Which of the following would be the written version of events?

Aber ich habe Angst gehabt, habe gewartet, bis auch die Putzfrau gegangen ist, und habe mich in die Schule einschließen lassen.

Aber ich hatte Angst, wartete, bis auch die Putzfrau ging, und ließ mich in die Schule einschließen.

There are...

main factors which affect verbs in the imperfect tense.

There are...

1) WEAK VERBS

2) STRONG VERBS

and...

3) IRREGULAR (sometimes called ‘mixed’) VERBS

WEAK VERBS

To form the imperfect of weak verbs do this:• get the stem (usually just take the ‘-en’ off the end of the verb e.g. mach(en)• add ‘-t’ e.g.• add these endings e.g.

macht

ich machte

du machtest

er/sie/es machte

wir machten

ihr machtet

sie/Sie machten

WEAK VERBS

http://www.acampitelli.com/imperfekt_regelmaessiger_verben.htm

Now click on the link to practice the imperfect of weak verbs.

STRONG VERBS

• STRONG verbs have the POWER to change the VOWEL and sometimes the CONSONANTS in the imperfect tense e.g.

helfen - es half

leiden - sie litt

To get the imperfect of strong verbs remember:

STRONG VERBS

Strong verbs take the following set of endings on the changed stem:

ich nahm (no ending)

du nahmst

er/sie/es nahm (no ending)

wir nahmen

ihr nahmt

sie/Sie nahmen

STRONG VERBS

Using your verb tables to help if you need to, practice your strong verb knowledge by clicking on the document below:

BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

BEFORE YOU START!

IRREGULAR (or mixed) VERBS

Some irregular STRONG verbs take the weak verb ending in the imperfect tense:

denken - ich dachte

Some irregular WEAK verbs change their vowel and sometimes consonant in the imperfect tense:

bringen - er brachte

IRREGULAR (or mixed) VERBS

YOU JUST HAVE TO LEARN

THEM AS YOU GO ALONG!!

As this is quite confusing, there is only really one way of getting to know them properly…

(sorry!)

Using your verb tables to help if you need to, practice your strong verb knowledge by clicking on the document below:

BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

BEFORE YOU START!

IRREGULAR (or mixed) VERBS

As you should now be an expert on the imperfect tense, click on the link

to test yourself, this time without your verb tables!

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/dnutting/germanaustralia/e/quiz-imp.htm

GUT GEMACHT!!!!!

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