Lektion 20 - Past Perfect Tense
In this lesson you'll learn how to use the past perfect tense. Plenty of examples are given to show you how to use the past perfect tense. You'll also learn the past participles of more common English verbs.
A conversation is also included between two friends, who talk about the first day on a job.
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Konversationen
English
Mark has just finished the first day at his new job. His friend Eric works a few blocks away, and they've met up at local café.
Eric: How was the first day at your new job?
Mark: Well, I had just arrived at the office, when I realized I had left my wallet at home. I went back home to get it, and by the time I was back at the office, I was 20 minutes late.
Eric: Oh no! Did it cause a problem?
Mark: No, but wasn't a good way to start my first day.
Eric: What happened next?
Mark: I introduced myself to the receptionist, then after a few minutes Susan arrived. She is one of the people who sat in on the interview. She took me around and introduced me to the people I'll be working with.
Eric: Had you met any of the people that you'll be working with before?
Mark: Yes. I had met Mike already at a friend's wedding, but I don't know him very well.
Eric: Did they put you to work right away?
Mark: No. Susan brought me to my desk and gave me a lot of documents to read.
Eric: I remember when I first started my job last year. I was very nervous, but it felt like starting on a new adventure as well.
Deutsch
Mark hat gerade den ersten Tag bei seinem neuen Job beendet. Sein Freund Eric arbeitet ein paar Blocks entfernt und sie haben sich im örtlichen Café getroffen.
Eric: Wie war der erste Tag an deinem neuen Arbeitsplatz?
Mark: Ich war gerade im Büro angekommen, als ich bemerkte, dass ich meine Brieftasche zu Hause vergessen hatte. Ich ging nach Hause, um sie zu holen, und als ich wieder im Büro war, war ich 20 Minuten zu spät.
Eric: Ach nein! Hat es ein Problem verursacht?
Mark: Nein, aber es war kein guter Weg, um meinen ersten Tag zu beginnen.
Eric: Was als nächstes geschah?
Mark: Ich stellte mich der Rezeptionistin vor, nachdem Susan nach ein paar Minuten ankam. Sie ist eine der Menschen, die im Interview saßen. Sie nahm mich herum und stellte mich den Leuten vor, mit denen ich arbeiten werde.
Eric: Hatten Sie einen der Personen getroffen, mit denen Sie vorher arbeiten werden?
Mark: Ja. Ich hatte Mike schon bei der Hochzeit eines Freundes getroffen, aber ich kenne ihn nicht sehr gut.
Eric: Haben sie dich sofort zur Arbeit gebracht?
Mark: Nein. Susan brachte mich an meinen Schreibtisch und gab mir viele Dokumente zum Lesen.
Eric: Ich erinnere mich, als ich letztes Jahr meinen Job zum ersten Mal begann. Ich war sehr nervös, aber es fühlte sich auch an, als würde ich auch mit einem neuen Abenteuer anfangen.
Vokabeln und Redewendungen
| I had just arrived at the office | Ich war gerade im Büro angekommen |
| I had left my wallet | Ich hatte meine Brieftasche vergessen |
| Did it cause a problem? | Hat es ein Problem verursacht? |
| receptionist | Rezeptionist, Rezeptionistin |
| interview | Interview |
| a friend's wedding | die Hochzeit eines Freundes |
| Did they put you to work right away? | Hat man Sie sofort in die Arbeit eingewiesen? |
| desk | Schreibtisch |
| documents | Dokumente |
| adventure | Abenteuer |
Grammatik
More Past Participles
Like the present perfect tense, the past perfect tense also uses past participles. The following table shows the past tense and past participle of some more common verbs.
| Verb | Past Tense | Past Participle | Deutsch |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was | been | sein |
| begin | began | begun | beginnen |
| believe | believed | believed | glauben |
| break | broke | broken | brechen |
| choose | chose | chosen | wählen |
| close | closed | closed | schließen |
| come | came | come | kommen |
| do | did | done | tun, machen |
| drink | drank | drunk | trinken |
| eat | ate | eaten | essen |
| enjoy | enjoyed | enjoyed | genießen |
| fall | fell | fallen | fallen |
| feel | felt | felt | fühlen |
| find | found | found | finden |
| fly | flew | flown | fliegen |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | vergessen |
| give | gave | given | geben |
| go | went | gone | gehen |
| happen | happened | happened | geschehen |
| have | had | had | haben |
| know | knew | known | wissen, kennen |
| learn | learned | learned | lernen |
| let | let | let | lassen |
| like | liked | liked | mögen, gefallen |
| live | lived | lived | leben |
| need | needed | needed | brauchen |
| open | opened | opened | öffnen |
| run | ran | run | laufen, rennen |
| say | said | said | sagen |
| see | saw | seen | sehen |
| sit | sat | sat | sitzen |
| sleep | slept | slept | schlafen |
| speak | spoke | spoken | sprechen |
| stand | stood | stood | bleiben |
| take | took | taken | nehmen |
| talk | talked | talked | sprechen |
| teach | taught | taught | unterrichten, lehren |
| tell | told | told | sagen, erzählen |
| think | thought | thought | denken |
| touch | touched | touched | berühren |
| turn | turned | turned | drehen |
| walk | walked | walked | Fuß gehen |
| want | wanted | wanted | wollen |
| wish | wished | wished | wünschen |
| write | wrote | written | schreiben |
Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is used to indicate that an event happened before another event, or before a specific date in the past.
The past perfect tense is formed using the past participle of a verb along with the simple past tense of the verb have. The following table shows the past perfect tense of the verb walk.
| Past Perfect Tense |
|---|
| I had walked |
| you had walked |
| he had walked |
| she had walked |
| it had walked |
| we had walked |
| they had walked |
Beispiele
| I had already left when you arrived. | Ich war schon weg, als Sie kamen. |
| I planned to wash the dishes, but somebody had already washed them. | Ich wollte das Geschirr abwaschen, aber jemand hatte es schon gespült. |
| She had already learned French before she started to learn Spanish. | Sie hatte bereits Französisch gelernt, bevor sie begann, Spanisch zu lernen. |
| We had come home before it started to rain. | Wir waren nach Hause gekommen, bevor es zu regnen begann. |
| They had studied for the exam before writing it. | Sie hatten für die Prüfung gelernt, bevor sie sie geschrieben haben. |
| Had he locked the door when he left work? | Hatte er die Tür abgeschlossen, als er die Arbeit verließ? |
| He had forgotten to lock the door when he left for work. | Hatte er vergessen, die Tür abzuschließen, als er zur Arbeit ging? |
| He had not locked the door before he left for work. | Er hatte die Tür nicht abgeschlossen, bevor er zur Arbeit ging. |
| Had the car needed a new engine when you bought it? | Brauchte das Auto einen neuen Motor, als Sie es kauften? |
| Had you read the books before you gave them to me? | Hatten Sie die Bücher gelesen, bevor Sie sie mir gaben? |
| She had just gotten home when they arrived. | Sie war gerade nach Hause gekommen, als sie eintrafen. |
| I wanted to watch the movie, but they had already seen it. | Ich wollte den Film sehen, aber sie hatten ihn schon gesehen. |
| It hadn't happened until last week. | Das war erst letzte Woche geschehen. |
Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the past perfect tense. For each flashcard change the verb in the past tense to the past perfect tense.
Quiz
In the quiz for this lesson, you'll practice using the past perfect tense. Make sure you know the past participles included in this lesson. You can take the quiz as many times as you like. Your highest score will be saved.
