German Present Perfect

The present perfect is used primarily in

• written German

• spoken German

The present perfect verb form consists of how many parts?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

The two parts are the auxiliary (haben/sein) and the ...

• infinitive

• past participle

• linking verb

• stem

Which two stipulations must be met for sein to be the auxiliary?

• change in location or condition

• has a direct object (transitive)

• no change in location or condition

• no direct object (intransitive)

Which two verbs are an exception to the "sein" stipulations?

• sein

• bleiben

• gehen

• spielen

Answer explanation

While sein and bleiben are both intransitive (no direct object), neither expresses a change in condition or a change in location.

The German past participle is usually recognizable because .......

• most are the same form as the infinitive

• most end with -ed

• most start with ge-

• most have ge- at the end

What are the three categories of German past participles?

• regular weak, ge + stem + t

• irregular weak, ge + modified stem + t

• strong, ge + stem (often modified) + en

• regular weak, ge + stem + en

• irregular strong, ge + modified stem + t

Answer explanation

Remember, the weak and strong labels only refer to the form of a verb's participle and do not correlate to whether you use haben or sein for the auxiliary. The verb's meaning is what dictates the auxiliary being haben or sein.

Weak verbs are marked by what feature?

• end in -en or -n

• end in -t

• use haben as auxiliary

• use sein as auxiliary

Strong verbs are marked by what feature?

• end in -t

• end in -en or -n

• use sein as auxiliary

• use haben as auxiliary

Which types of verbs will NOT have ge- as part of their participles.

• separable-prefix verbs

• inseparable-prefix verbs

• verbs whose infinitives end with -ieren

• sein verbs

Answer explanation

separable-prefix verbs have the "ge" between the prefix and the main part of the verb. mitkommen = mitgekommen