Präteritum in German: Detailed Explanation with "waren" and "hatten"
1. What is Präteritum?
Präteritum (also called Imperfekt) is the simple past tense used mainly in written German like
novels, news articles, and formal reports. In spoken German, it's typically used only with common
verbs like "sein", "haben", "werden", and modal verbs (wollen, können, etc.).
2. Sentence Structure in Präteritum
Basic: Subject + Verb (in Präteritum) + Rest
Example: Ich hatte Hunger. -> I was hungry.
Time first: [Time] + Verb + Subject + Rest
Example: Gestern war er müde. -> Yesterday he was tired.
Subordinate: ..., weil + Subject + ... + Verb
Example: Ich blieb zu Hause, weil ich krank war. -> I stayed at home because I was sick.
3. Conjugation in Detail: "sein" and "haben"
"sein" (to be)
ich - war
du - warst
er/sie/es - war
wir - waren
ihr - wart
sie/Sie - waren
Examples:
Ich war zu spät. -> I was too late.
Wir waren im Urlaub. -> We were on vacation.
"haben" (to have)
ich - hatte
du - hattest
er/sie/es - hatte
wir - hatten
ihr - hattet
sie/Sie - hatten
Examples:
Ich hatte keine Zeit. -> I had no time.
Wir hatten ein großes Haus. -> We had a big house.
4. Using "waren" and "hatten" in Complex Sentences
Coordinating Conjunctions (verb stays 2nd):
aber, und, oder, denn
Example: Ich war müde, aber ich hatte keine Pause.
Subordinating Conjunctions (verb to end):
weil, dass, wenn, obwohl
Example: Ich blieb zu Hause, weil ich keine Lust hatte.
5. Practice Table
German: Ich war in der Schule, aber ich hatte keine Bücher.
English: I was in school, but I had no books.
German: Wir waren müde, weil wir keinen Kaffee hatten.
English: We were tired because we had no coffee.
German: Sie war traurig, denn sie hatte eine schlechte Note.
English: She was sad because she got a bad grade.
6. Tips
- Use "war/warst/war..." for being somewhere or feeling something
- Use "hatte/hattest/hatten..." for possessing or lacking something
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