The German Past Tense You’re Using Wrong

You’ve been studying German for a while. You’ve diligently memorized your verb conjugations, you know your articles, and you’re starting to form complete sentences. You meet a German friend for coffee and want to tell them what you did yesterday. “Gestern,” you begin proudly, “ging ich ins Kino und danach aß ich eine Pizza.”

Your friend understands you perfectly, but you might notice a flicker of… something. A slight pause. They reply, “Oh, super! Ich habe gestern auch Pizza gegessen.”

You said, “I went” and “I ate.” They said, “I have eaten.” Both are past tense, so what’s the big deal? Welcome to one of the most common and revealing mistakes that German learners make. The difference between the Präteritum (the simple past, e.g., ich ging) and the Perfekt (the compound past, e.g., ich bin gegangen) isn’t about time—it’s about context. And getting it right is a crucial step from sounding like a textbook to sounding like a native speaker.

A Tale of Two Pasts: Präteritum vs. Perfekt

First, let’s do a quick technical recap. German has two primary ways of talking about completed actions in the past.

The Präteritum (the “Simple Past” or “Imperfect”) is a one-word verb form. It’s what you typically learn in conjugation tables.

• ich spielte (I played)
• er las (he read)
• wir sahen (we saw)

The Perfekt (the “Compound Past” or “Present Perfect”) is a two-part verb form. It uses an auxiliary (helping) verb—either haben or sein—in the present tense, combined with the past participle of the main verb.

• ich habe gespielt (I played/have played)
• er hat gelesen (he read/has read)
• wir sind gefahren (we drove/have driven)

English speakers often get tripped up here because in English, “I played” and “I have played” can have slightly different nuances. In German, this is not the case. Ich spielte and ich habe gespielt refer to the exact same finished action. The difference is not in their meaning, but in their usage.

The Golden Rule: Spoken vs. Written German

Here is the single most important takeaway you need: the primary distinction between the Präteritum and the Perfekt is one of register, or formality. Think of it as a separation between the language you speak and the language you write.

For Spoken German, Use the Perfekt

In virtually all everyday spoken situations, Germans use the Perfekt tense. This includes:

• Conversations with friends, family, and colleagues
• Telling a story about your weekend
• Asking someone what they did yesterday
• Informal writing like text messages, emails to friends, and social media posts

Using the Präteritum for common verbs in conversation is grammatically correct, but it sounds stilted, overly formal, or even a bit poetic—as if you’re narrating a story instead of participating in a conversation.

Let’s look at some examples of natural, spoken German:

Instead of this (too formal): Ich kaufte ein neues Hemd.

Say this (natural): Ich habe ein neues Hemd gekauft. (I bought a new shirt.)

Instead of this (sounds like a fairy tale): Wir sahen einen guten Film.

Say this (natural): Wir haben einen guten Film gesehen. (We saw a good movie.)

Instead of this (stilted): Kamst du gut nach Hause?

Say this (natural): Bist du gut nach Hause gekommen? (Did you get home okay?)

For Written German, Use the Präteritum

So where does the Präteritum live? It is the preferred tense for formal, written German. It’s the language of narration. You will find it everywhere in:

• Novels and short stories
• Fairy tales (Es war einmal…)
• News articles and journalism
• Formal reports and academic papers

The Präteritum creates a clean, narrative flow that is less clunky than using the two-part Perfekt over and over again in prose. It creates a sense of detachment, telling a story that is clearly set in the past.

Der Detektiv betrat das Zimmer. Es roch nach altem Papier und der Regen trommelte gegen die Fensterscheibe. (The detective entered the room. It smelled of old paper and the rain drummed against the windowpane.)

Using the Perfekt here would be grammatically possible, but it would completely ruin the narrative tone. The Präteritum is the storyteller’s tense.

The Exceptions That Prove the Rule

Of course, this is German, so there are a few crucial exceptions to this neat spoken/written divide. A handful of very common verbs are almost always used in the Präteritum, even in spoken conversation. Mastering these is key to sounding truly fluent.

1. Modal Verbs: können, wollen, müssen, sollen, dürfen, mögen
These are nearly always used in their Präteritum forms in speech. While their Perfekt forms exist (e.g., ich habe gekonnt), they sound clumsy and are rarely used.

• Ich konnte gestern nicht anrufen. (I couldn’t call yesterday.)
• Er wollte mitkommen. (He wanted to come along.)
• Wir mussten früh aufstehen. (We had to get up early.)

2. sein (to be) and haben (to have)
The two most important verbs in the language also prefer the Präteritum in conversation.

• Ich war letzte Woche krank. (I was sick last week.) – Much more common than “Ich bin krank gewesen.”
• Wir hatten keine Zeit. (We didn’t have time.) – Much more common than “Wir haben keine Zeit gehabt.”

3. A Few Others
You will also hear the Präteritum of verbs like wissen (to know), denken (to think), finden (to find, in the sense of an opinion), and es gibt (there is/are).

• Ich wusste das nicht! (I didn’t know that!)
• Ich dachte, du bist schon da. (I thought you were already here.)
• Das fand ich gut. (I thought that was good.)
• Früher gab es hier kein Café. (There used to not be a café here.)

As a final note, there is a north-south divide. In Northern Germany, you might hear the Präteritum used slightly more often in speech. In Southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the Perfekt is used almost exclusively, sometimes even for the modal verbs. However, for a learner, the rules above are the safest and most standard guide.

Why It Matters: Bridging the Gap to Fluency

Sticking to the Präteritum for everyday verbs is one of the clearest signs of a non-native speaker. It’s not a grammar error in the strictest sense, but a stylistic and cultural one. It creates an unnecessary formality and distance in a casual setting.

When you switch your default spoken past tense to the Perfekt (while remembering the exceptions), your German will instantly sound more relaxed, more natural, and more authentic. You’ll be speaking the way Germans actually speak to each other, not the way a character speaks in a 19th-century novel.

So, the next time you tell your friend about your day, leave the gings and aßes in your books. Instead, try: “Gestern bin ich ins Kino gegangen und danach habe ich eine Pizza gegessen.” You’ll not only be understood—you’ll sound right at home.