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German grammar · B1

German Simple Past: The Präteritum of Main Verbs

The Präteritum is German's simple past. At A1 and A2 you meet it only in war, hatte and the modals. At B1 it widens to every verb, because B1 is where you start reading and writing connected narrative rather than short messages.

Weak, strong and mixed

Weak verbs add -te to the stem: machen → ich machte, arbeiten → ich arbeitete. Completely regular.

Strong verbs change the stem vowel and take no ending in the first and third person singular: gehen → ich ging, er ging; fahren → ich fuhr; schreiben → ich schrieb. These have to be learned as a list, the same list you already learned for the perfect participles.

Mixed verbs do both — vowel change plus the weak -te: bringen → brachte, denken → dachte, wissen → wusste. There are only a handful.

Across all three types, the ich and er/sie/es forms are identical, exactly as they are with modal verbs.

When to use it instead of the perfect

The division is one of register, not of meaning. The perfect belongs to speech and to informal writing — messages, emails to friends, conversation. The Präteritum belongs to written narrative: news reports, stories, reports, formal accounts.

The exceptions run the other way: war, hatte and the modal past forms are used in speech as well, and sound more natural there than their perfect equivalents.

So a B1 candidate needs both. Use the perfect when you are speaking or writing to a person; use the Präteritum when you are narrating.

Examples

• Gestern ging ich in die Stadt und kaufte ein neues Buch.Yesterday I went to the city and bought a new book.
• Sie schrieb einen langen Brief und schickte ihn ab.She wrote a long letter and sent it off.
• Der Zug kam pünktlich an und wir fuhren nach München.The train arrived on time and we drove to Munich.
• Er dachte lange nach, bevor er eine Entscheidung traf.He thought for a long time before he made a decision.
• Die Kinder spielten im Garten, während die Eltern arbeiteten.The children played in the garden while the parents worked.

Mistakes to avoid

The errors are adding a -te ending to a strong verb, and putting an ending on the third person singular where strong verbs take none.

• ✗ Er gingte gestern sehr früh nach Hause.✓ Er ging gestern sehr früh nach Hause.
• ✗ Ich sahst meinen alten Schulfreund auf der Straße.✓ Ich sah meinen alten Schulfreund auf der Straße.
• ✗ Er schreibte einen offiziellen Beschwerdebrief.✓ Er schrieb einen offiziellen Beschwerdebrief.
• ✗ Wir gehten am Wochenende im Wald spazieren.✓ Wir gingen am Wochenende im Wald spazieren.

How this is tested in the exam

At B1 the Präteritum is mostly a reading requirement: the press article in Lesen Teil 2 is written in it, and so are most of the narrative texts. You need to recognise ging as gehen instantly. Producing it matters less, except when a writing task asks you to report something that happened.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Präteritum and Perfekt?

They mean the same thing but belong to different registers. The perfect is used in speech and informal writing; the Präteritum is used in written narrative such as news reports and stories.

Why does er ging have no ending?

Strong verbs take no ending in the first and third person singular of the simple past, so ich ging and er ging are identical.

What are mixed verbs in German?

Verbs that change their stem vowel and also take the weak -te ending: bringen becomes brachte, denken becomes dachte, wissen becomes wusste.

Do I need the Präteritum to pass B1?

You need to recognise it, because the reading texts are written in it. You can usually write and speak using the perfect, except where a task explicitly asks for a report or narrative.