German 2, Semester 2; Das Freizeitangebot

Sections:

Introduction  |   Section 1  |   Section 2  |   Section 3   |   Dictionaries  |   Verb Chart

Section One:

Part A  |   Part B  |   Part C  |   Part D   |   Part E   |   Part F

Section One - Part E Hör zu To avoid misunderstandings, it is very important to recognize which tense a statement is in. Listen to each recording and decide which choice better expresses when the activities took place or are going to take place. Mark it with an X. Click on the arrow to see the correct answer. If this is difficult for you, take note of this page and come back to it later for more practice. Hör zu Heute   Gestern X Hör zu Nächste Woche X Letzte Woche   Hör zu Morgen   Gestern X Hör zu Nächste Woche   Letzte Woche X Hör zu Heute X Morgen   Hör zu Gestern X Morgen   Hör zu Letztes Jahr   Nächstes Jahr X Hör zu Nächsten Monat   Letzten Monat X Das Partizip In Part 1C we summarized all six German tense forms. For the Perfekt, however, all we said about the past participles is that weak ones end in -t, and strong ones end in -n. Let's complete the picture here. In general the pattern is: weak verbs: ge + stem + -t strong verbs: ge + stem* + -(e)n * some strong verbs change the stem used in the participle; these must be learned, but they fall into groups, and you should start seeing the patterns soon. You've seen some participles without the ge- and some where it seems to be in the middle. What's going on here? The answer is simple: it all has to do with where the word is accented (stressed). a) If the basic word is not accented at the beginning, there is no ge- in the participle. Here are some examples: Infinitive Past Participle studieren studiert beginnen begonnen erleben erlebt verstehen verstanden (As you can see, it doesn't matter whether the verb is weak or strong: "No accent, no ge-.") b) If the verb has a separable prefix (and all separable prefixes are accented!), then the ge- goes between the prefix and the stem. Infinitive Past Participle mitmachen mitgemacht abfahren abgefahren aufstehen aufgestanden aufhören aufgehört Üben wir See if you can choose the correct ge-situation for each of these verbs. Remember, it all has to do with accent! (Knowing this should help you with each new verb you learn.) Klicke auf das Verbum und du siehst die richtige Antwort. Verb "ge-" at the beginning (most verbs) No "ge-" (unaccented) "ge-" between separable prefix and stem kommen gekommen     dekorieren   dekoriert   besuchen   besucht   zumachen     zugemacht essen gegessen     telefonieren   telefoniert   einkaufen     eingekauft skifahren     skigefahren schreiben geschrieben     When do I use the Perfekt, and when do I use the Imperfekt? You've learned that the German Perfekt and Imperfekt have different uses than their English counterparts. The Perfekt is used in conversation (hence its alternate name "Conversational Past"), while the Imperfekt is used to express a series of connected past events, as if you were narrating a story (hence its alternate name "Narrative Past"). For haben, sein, the modals, and a few other very common verbs, the Imperfekt is also used in conversation. Thus, you're much more likely to hear, "Ich war gestern zu Hause. Ich hatte viele Hausaufgaben," than "Ich bin gestern zu Hause gewesen. Ich habe viele Hausaufgaben gehabt." Yet the speaker could easily go on to say, "Ich habe den ganzen Abend gelesen und geschrieben." So don't worry about the English tense (past or present perfect); just ask yourself, "Is this a conversation or a narration?" Teil F.

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