German Past Participle (Partizip II)

The German past participle, the Partizip II, is the verb form behind "spoken," "eaten," and "run." You need it to build the perfect tenses (Perfekt, Plusquamperfekt, Futur II), the passive, and even to use verbs as adjectives. This guide from SPRACHCAFFE explains how to form it for every verb type, the ge- rules, when to use haben or sein, and where it goes in the sentence.

• Perfekt (spoken past): Ich habe gerade gegessen. → I have just eaten. / Du hast in Paris gelebt. → You lived in Paris.
• Plusquamperfekt (past-before-past): Sara hatte gegessen, bevor sie zu uns kam. → Sara had eaten before she joined us. / Wir hatten es vermutet. → We had suspected it.
• Futur II (future perfect): Im Sommer wirst du dein Studium beendet haben. → By summer you will have finished your studies. / Bis morgen wirst du alles verstanden haben. → By tomorrow you will have understood everything.
• Passive and as an adjective (see below).

How to form the Partizip II

Strong verbs and vowel changes

Strong verbs end in -en and often change their stem vowel. These have to be memorised, but common patterns include:

• e → o: sprechen → gesprochen (spoken)
• i → u: finden → gefunden (found)
• ei → ie: bleiben → geblieben (stayed)
• ie → o: verlieren → verloren (lost)

More examples: brechen → gebrochen (broken), bitten → gebeten (asked), befehlen → befohlen (ordered).

Modal verbs

Modal verbs behave like weak verbs: können → gekonnt, wollen → gewollt.

Verbs that don't take ge-

Two groups never add the ge- prefix:

• Verbs ending in -ieren: studieren → studiert (studied); telefonieren → telefoniert (phoned).
• Inseparable-prefix verbs (be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-): besuchen → besucht (visited); verstehen → verstanden (understood); empfangen → empfangen (received).

Separable-prefix verbs: ge- goes in the middle

Separable verbs keep their prefix and insert -ge- between the prefix and the stem:

• abfahren → abgefahren (departed)
• einkaufen → eingekauft (shopped)
• ankommen → angekommen (arrived)

haben or sein?

In the perfect tenses the Partizip II combines with an auxiliary. Choosing it is essential:

• haben for most verbs, including all transitive verbs: Ich habe das Buch gelesen. → I have read the book.
• sein for intransitive verbs of movement or change of state: Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren (I went to Berlin); Er ist eingeschlafen (he fell asleep); Sie ist geblieben (she stayed). Common sein verbs include gehen, kommen, fahren, bleiben, werden, and sterben.

Where the participle goes in the sentence

• Main clause: at the very end. Ich habe dir ein Omelett gemacht. → I made you an omelette. / Gestern bist du zu spät zurückgekommen. → Yesterday you came back too late.
• Subordinate clause: the participle comes just before the auxiliary, which is final. Ich weiß, dass er ein neues Auto gekauft hat. → I know that he bought a new car.
• Passive (with werden): the participle goes at the end. Das letzte Wort ist gesprochen. → The last word has been spoken.

The participle as an adjective

Past participles often work as adjectives, and then they take normal adjective endings before the noun:

• Die zerbrochene Tasse liegt im Müll. → The broken cup is in the bin.
• Dein gebrochenes Herz braucht Schokolade. → Your broken heart needs chocolate.
• Sie brachten den Verwundeten ins Krankenhaus. → They took the injured man to hospital. (participle used as a noun)