Past participle: Regular formation

Regular verbs (in the present)

ge + Verb stem + -(e)t

Examples:

machen → gemacht
arbeiten → gearbeitet (Bei Verbstämmen auf d/t)

Special feature:

Verbs ending in –ieren do not receive „ge“

organisieren → organisiert

Irregular/Strong verbs (in the present)

ge + verb stem + -en

Examples:

fahren → gefahren
schlafen → geschlafen

You can also have Jan explain the grammar to you in a video lesson:

The categorization of regular and irregular verbs refers to the conjugation of the verb in the present. The formation of the past participle is 100% regular for these two forms.

Irregular formation

Mixed verbs

Mixed verbs mean that the past participle is formed not with the present stem, but with the past tense stem:

ge + verb stem in the past tense + -t

Examples:

bringen → gebracht (Präteritum: brachte)
brennen → gebrannt (Präteritum: brannte)
kennen → gekannt(Präteritum: kannte)

There is no specific rule indicating which verbs use the version with the past tense. You need to know this. However, it is initially more complicated than it really is in practice, since you will apply the past participle very frequently.

Note: The definition of „gemischten Verben“ used here differs from the standard definition for „gemischte Verben“, which is not very helpful for students. You can find the standard definition, for example click here.

Verbs with vowel changes

Some verbs change vowels when forming the past participle (a, e, i, o, u). These are usually verbs that also change vowels in the present conjugation. Additionally, the double vowel "ei" in the past participle almost always changes to „ei“.

Verbs with vowel changes always end in „en“:

ge + verb stem + -en

Example:

helfen → geholfen
nehmen → genommen
schreiben → geschrieben

I1.2: Complete the overview.

[h5p id="287"]	[h5p id="288"]

Grammar training – Participle 2 / Past participle

You must be logged in to access this course