How to Conjugate German Verbs in Imperfect Tense

In German, the past can be expressed in perfect or imperfect tense. The perfect tense consists of two parts, the auxiliary and the past participle. The imperfect, however, only uses one verb form. While the perfect tense is used more in spoken dialogue, the imperfect tense is used in writing. The imperfect tense tends to appear in books, accounts, narrative writing and newspaper reports. “Ich brauchte Geld” (I needed money) is an example of imperfect tense. Here is how to conjugate German verbs in the imperfect tense.

Instructions

1. Learn the imperfect tense forms for weak verbs. Weak verbs are regular verbs in that the stems do not change. Form the imperfect tense by taking the stem and adding the appropriate ending. For example, take the verb sagen (to say). The stem is “sag.” The endings are –te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet and –ten. “Ich sage” (I said), “du sagtest” (you said), “er sagte” (he said), “wir sagten” (we said), “ihr sagtet” (you all said), “sie sagten” (they said), and “Sie sagten” (you said, polite). Examples of other weak verbs include "fragen" (to ask), "hören" (to hear), "lachen" (to laugh), "spielen" (to play), "weinen" (to cry) and "wünschen" (to wish).

2. Add an –e before the imperfect tense ending for weak verbs with stems ending in –d or –t. For example, take the verb “heiraten” (to marry). The stem is heirat. The imperfect tense forms are ich heiratete (I married), du heiratetest (you married), er heiratete (he married), wir heirateten (we married), ihr heiratetet (you all married), sie heirateten (they married), and Sie heirateten (you polite married). Other verbs that follow this rule include antworten (to answer), kosten (to cost), öffnen (to open), and warten (to wait). This is not an exhaustive list.

3. Learn the imperfect tense forms of mixed verbs. Mixed verbs take the regular endings, but the stems change. Take the verb "denken" (to think). The stem changes to “dach.” The imperfect forms are ich dachte (I thought), du dachtest (you thought), er dachte (he thought), wir dachten (we thought), ihr dachtet (you all thought), sie dachten (they thought), and Sie dachten (you polite thought). Other verbs that follow this rule include bringen (changes to brachte), haben (changes to hatte), kennen (changes to kannte), and wissen (changes to wusste). Modal verbs können, müssen, sollen, and wollen also follow this pattern in imperfect tense.

4. Learn the imperfect tense forms for strong verbs. Strong verbs change stems and take a different set of endings. Form the imperfect tense by taking the irregular stem and adding -, -st, -en, -t, and –en. Take the verb beginnen (to begin). The stem is begann. Ich begann (I began), du begannst (you began), er began (he began), wir begannen (we began), ihr begannt (you all began), sie begannen (they began), and Sie begannen (you polite began). It is unpredictable how strong verbs will change stems. You will therefore have to memorize each strong verb form on a case by case basis.