O-Rhesus-Negativ

Udo Lindenberg

LO: to recognise and use the imperfect tense

The imperfect tense

Remember how to make the present tense? Find the infinitive that you want, take off the en/n and add the present tense endings:

Person Present endings Imperfect endings

weak

ich e te

du st test

er/sie/es/man t te

wir en ten

ihr t tet

sie en ten

Sie en ten

The imperfect tense works much the same way, just the endings are different.

The imperfect tense is easiest to remember as the “was ... ing” tense. It is used more in writing than speaking.

Infinitive Imperfect Meaning

kaufen ich kaufte I was buying .. (bought)

machen du machtest You were doing.. (did)

besuchen er besuchte he was visiting (visited)

zeigen wir zeigten we were showing (showed)

studieren ihr studiertet you were studying (studied)

erzählen sie erzählten they were telling.. (told)

landen Sie landeten you were landing .. (landed)

Strong verbs need to be learned off by heart. Your strong verb list will be very useful for this. Check these verbs in column 3.

gehen denken ziehen laden halten sprechen sein

The imperfect tense is pretty straightforward for weak verbs but looks very similar to the present tense. Be careful when translating!

You can see that some of these verbs change a lot.The strong verbs also have a different set of

endings to learn.

Person Imperfect endingsstrong

ich -

du st

er/sie/es/man -

wir en

ihr t

sie n

Sie n

Imperfect Meaning

ich ging I was going

du dachtest You were thinking

man zog One was pulling

wir luden ein We were inviting

ihr hieltet You were stopping

sie sprachen They were speaking

Sie waren You were ...

You may not use this tense very much in your speaking but it is very important to recognise the strong verbs and the endings of both.

There are some common verbs which are most often than not used in the imperfect when talking about the past:

sein ich war I was

haben ich hatte I had

geben es gab there was

können ich konnte I could

müssen ich musste I had to

wollen ich wollte I wanted to

sollen ich sollte I was supposed to

dürfen ich durfte I was allowed to

mögen ich mochte I liked

Was bedeuten diese Verben?

to get drunk

to follow/pursue

to hand in

to console

to need

to notice

to invite

to pull (face)

to go for a walk

to tolerate/stand

to mention

to converse

spazierengehen

bemerken

verfolgen

erwähnen

verziehen

vertragen

trösten

einladen

sich unterhalten

brauchen

sich besaufen

einreichen

to go for a walkto notice

to follow/pursueto mention

to pull (face)to tolerate/stand

to consoleto invite

to converseto need

to get drunk

to hand in

str*

strstr

strstr

str

udo

Geboren Mai 1946 in Gronau

Was ist diese Person? Wie heißt er?

Hören Sie sich das Lied „O-Rhesus-Negativ“ an.

AQA Arbeitsheft Seite 8.

Aufgabe.1a. war … hatteb. warenc. war … hatted. warste. hattef. war ... hatte

Yesterday was Sunday and I had no school.After the trip we were very tired.The girls were sad as they didn‘t have money for the concert.

Where were you at the weekend?I simply had no time for training.He was really happy because he had his birthday.

Aufgabe.2a. wolltenb. musstec. sollted. durften

e. konnten

We wanted to see the new film.My dad had to repair the car.Andrea was supposed to go straight home after the disco.

Because the youths were too young they weren‘t allowed to drink alcohol.

My friend and I couldn‘t do the homework.

As a storyboard, re-write the song in the 3rd person. Explain what happened to the person singing the song.

Es war Mitternacht und ein Mann ging spazieren und bemerkte, dass ein Finstermann mit einem großen Hut ihn verfolgte. Der Finstermann sprach ihn an, schmatzend und mit knirschenden Zähnen. Der Finstermann sagte:

AQA Arbeitsheft Seite 27 Schwache Verben

Aufgabe 1a. erzählteb. kauftenc. landetend. besuchtee. antwortetestf. dauerte.. endeteg. zeigteh. amüsierteni. studierte

Aufgabe.2a. Die Karten kosteten nichts.b. Wir wohnten im Ausland.c. Ich hörte ein Geräusch.d. Die Mädchen lachten laut.e. Es regnete gestern.f. Wir warteten auf den Zug.

She told her son a story

We bought sausage and chipsMy friends landed in Spain at 23.00 hoursI visited my aunt at the weekend.

You didn‘t answerThe film lasted almost 2.5 hours and ended shortly before midnight.Steffi showed me her new headphones.

My family and I had great fun at the theme park.He studied law and psychology in Berlin.

AQA Arbeitsblatt Seite 28 Starke und gemischte Verben

Aufgabe.1empfahl/sah/gewann/lief/half/fing/tat/sang/stand/lag/nahm

Ex.2standenempfahlfingengewannhalfsangennahmtanliefsah

We stood 20 minutes at the bus stop.The waitress recommended the chicken soup.The children started to cry.

The skier won a silver medal.I helped our neighbour in the garden.

K and B sang in the school choir.He took the tablets three times a day.

After the work his muscles hurt him.The dog ran out of the house.

Last week my friend and I saw our favourite group.

Plenaraufgabe - ist das Präsens oder Imperfekt?

Ich sage.Er setzte sich hin.Ich ruhte mich aus.Wir probieren.Wir interessierten uns.Du bestelltest.

Er empfiehlt.Sie schliefen.Ihr verlort.Ich las.Es gelingt mir.Sie genossen.

Du kannst.Ich musste.Wir sollten.Du darfst.Sie mögen.Er mochte.Ich wollte.

PräsensImperfektImperfekt

PräsensImperfekt

Imperfekt

PräsensImperfekt

ImperfektImperfekt

PräsensImperfekt

PräsensImperfektImperfekt

PräsensPräsens

ImperfektImperfekt

Wiederholung - Was ist das auf Deutsch?

I was telephoning Stefan.We were trying the wine.He was selling the house.I was doing my homework.They were working quietly.

She was going on Saturdays.I was reading a book.We were falling.You were enjoying that!He was singing in the bathroom.

I was able to win.He was allowed to go.We had to sleep.You were supposed to eat.They wanted to swim.

Ich telefonierte mit Stefan.Wir probierten den Wein.

Er verkaufte das Haus.Ich machte meine Hausaufgaben.

Sie arbeiteten ruhig.

Sie ging samstags.Ich las ein Buch.Wir fielen.

Sie genossen das.Er sang im Badezimmer.

Ich konnte gewinnen.Er durfte gehen.

Wir mussten schlafen.Du solltest essen.

Sie wollten schwimmen.