Video:Learn German: Conjugate the Simple Past Tense
with Iris KingThe German language can seem very different from many other romance languages, but with practice it can be learned. Learn how to conjugate German verbs in the simple past tense with this About.com video.See Transcript
Transcript:Learn German: Conjugate the Simple Past Tense
Hello, I am Iris. I am here for About.com from Bond Street Languages and now I am going to show you how to conjugate in the simple past in German.
Simple Past in German
The simple past in German is called "das Imperfekt." It is a bit different in terms of using it to the English simple past, because it is more used in the written language, so in newspaper articles, in literature, in books, et cetera. When we speak we use the perfect tense.
This is the infinitive "brauchen," it means "to need."
How to Conjugate the Simple Past in German
"Ich brauchte," so we take the "-en" away for the regular verbs, we add a "t" and an "e" for the first-person singular.
Ich brauchte: I needed.
Du brauchtest: you needed.
The same thing happens, we have got "brauchen," the stem, we take away the ending "en," add a "t"and "est" for you, singular.
Er/sie/es brauchte: he/she/it needed.
Sie brauchten: formal you, you needed.
Wir brauchten: we needed
Ihr brauchtet: you, plural, needed.
Sie brauchten: they needed.
Of course, there is a number of irregular verbs as well. So these forms are the regular ones. My name is Iris. I am here for About.com from Bond Street Languages and I was showing you how to conjugate the simple past in German. For more information please go to About.com. Thanks for watching!