The German preterite is not used as often as the perfect (past perfect tense), but without it one cannot read literary works. Indeed, in the book language, it is the form Praeteritum that is most often used.
What is the past tense form
In German, Praeteritum ("preteritum", also "preterite") is used to refer to past events. From Latin, the specified word is translated as "passed by." Also, this form can be called narrative time. If Perfect (perfect) is used mainly in colloquial speech, then the preterite in German is typical for book speech. When a detailed coherent narrative is being conducted (book, novel, story), Praeteritum is also used.
When the preterite is used in German
The difference between the past tense and the perfect is believed to be that the Perfect is somehow related to an event in the present. Since in colloquial speech almost all events are connected with the present (it makes no sense to say thatIt doesn’t matter), then in everyday life the past perfect tense is used mainly. The role of book time, the language of the mass media, remains to the preterite. It is also used in stories about events in the past. For example, a person talks about what he did in the summer, in the last year / decade, etc. And then, since this form is rarely used, it already sounds too literary. Therefore, even in first-person stories about past events, the past perfect tense is also often used - Perfekt.
The preteritum in German is still used on a par with the perfect, if the verbs haben, sein, and also modal are used. For example, the phrase "I was at the institute yesterday" would be translated as Ich war gestern im Institut rather than Ich bin gestern im Institut gewesen. And in the sentence "The child wanted a present for Christmas" the verb in the simple past tense would be more likely to be used. Das Kind wollte ein Geschenk zu Weihnachten (not Das Kind hat ein Geschenk… gewollt).
Let's say a few more words about how modal verbs change in the past tense. The umlaut in this case goes away, the suffix t is added. For example, the stem from the verb müssen (should) in the preterite will sound like muss + t + personal ending. If there is no umlaut, then it, accordingly, is not added. Ich soll – Ich sollte, Wir wollen – Wir wollten.
How to form the past tense
Verbs in preterite in German can be formed according to two different formulas. Form the simple past tense with the suffix t, whichadded to the stem of the verb. We have the following formula:
Preterite=verb stem+t+personal ending. This formula only applies to weak verbs.
An example is as follows: Ich studiere means "I am studying, studying at a university or institute." But Ich studierte means "I studied".
If the stem of the verb ends in the consonants "d", "t", then the vowel e is also placed between the main and the past tense suffix - to facilitate pronunciation. So, Ich arbeite means "I am working (now or at all)", but Ich arbeitete means "I have been working".
It's like Past in English, there's even a similar past tense suffix - (e)d. And just like Shakespeare's language, German has irregular verbs. For irregular (strong) verbs, the formula will be different:
Basic + modified basis (different for each, you need to memorize) + personal endings.
Features of the preterite
It should be remembered that in the singular in the first and third persons the verbs are the same. This should always be kept in mind when using the German preterite. Example sentences are:
"I was doing my homework." – Ich machte die Hausaufgabe. In the third person, the forms of the verb are the same. Er (he) machte die Hausaufgabe.
A feature of the German language is also a special group of verbs, which are something in between, intermediate between strong and weak. So, they also acquire the suffix t in the past tense, but the root changes in the preteritevowel. So, these are the verbs "to think" (denken). Ich denke - Ich dachte. Here e is changed to a. Other verbs are as follows:
Bringen - bring (Ich bringe, however Ich brachte).
Rennen - to run (Ich renne, but Ich rannte).
(Er)kennen - to know (respectively - to recognize) (Ich (er)kenne, however Ich (er)kannte).
And also the verb nennen - to call (Ich nenne - Ich nannte).
In a word, nothing complicated. The main thing is just to figure it out.
