In German, a past participle, or Partizip II, is a form of a verb that is most often formed using the pattern ge- + verb + -t / -en, though often the vowel of the verb will need to be changed as well.
Infinitive | Past Participle |
|---|---|
legen to put | gelegt put |
wissen to know | gewusst known |
singen to sing | gesungen sung |
German past participles have many uses. Most commonly you’ll find them used…
to to form perfect tenses:
Was hast du getan?
What have you done?
to form the passive voice:
Das Flugzeug wird von einem Piloten geflogen.
The plane is being flown by a pilot.
as adjectives:
die versteckten Kosten
the hidden costs
However, they can also be used as adverbs and they form the base of some nouns that come from verbs. In this post, we’ll go over how to form German past participles and introduce you to some of the situations where you’ll use this verb form, while directing you to further resources where you can learn more. Let’s have a look!
There are three main patterns you might follow when forming a German past participle. The pattern you follow for an individual verb will depend on if it is a weak, strong, or mixed verb. Let’s look first at each class, then we’ll talk about what to do for separable and inseparable verbs. Let’s make sense of the past!
The past participle of weak verbs (sometimes called “regular verbs”) is formed using the basic rule: ge- + verb stem + -t.
ge-
verb stem
-t
kaufen → kauf → gekauft
to buy → [stem] → bought
If the verb stem ends in -t, -d or a consonant group, like -tm, -chn , -ffn, -ckn or -gn, you’ll need to add an extra -e- before the ending, which makes it easier to pronounce.
Infinitive | Stem | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
warten to wait | wart- | gewartet waited |
landen to land | land- | gelandet landed |
atmen to breathe | atm- | geatmet breathed |
zeichnen to draw | zeichn- | gezeichnet drawn |
öffnen to open | öffn- | geöffnet opened |
trocknen to dry | trockn- | getrocknet dried |
regnen to rain | regn- | geregnet rained |
When forming the past participle of verbs ending in -ieren you will often leave out the ge- prefix. Otherwise, they work just like other weak verbs.
Infinitive | Stem | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
servieren to serve | servier- | serviert served |
studieren to study | studier- | studiert studied |
kopieren to copy | kopier- | kopiert copied |
Many German verbs ending in -ieren are loanwords from other languages such as French.
Strong verbs, sometimes called “irregular verbs,” are those verbs that change their stem vowel in one or more tenses. To form the past participle of these forms, you’ll follow the formula ge- + verb stem + -en, but the vowel in the verb stem will often, though not always, be different from the one in the infinitive. For example:
ge-
verb stem
(possible vowel change)
-en
fliegen → geflogen
to fly → flown
gehen → gegangen
to go → gone
singen → gesungen
to fly → flown
The examples above all have a vowel change:
fliegen → geflogen
gehen → gegangen
singen → gesungen
However, some strong verbs still use the same vowel in the stem and the past participle:
Infinitive | Past Participle |
|---|---|
fahren to drive | gefahren driven |
lesen to read | gelesen read |
rufen to shout | gerufen shouted |
The past participle of the verb sein(to be) is a special case. This verb changes its stem completely.
sein → gewesen
to be → been
Mixed verbs, as the name implies, have characteristics of both weak and strong verbs. Mixed verbs generally follow the weak verb pattern, ge- + stem + -t, but most of them have a change in their stem vowel as well.
ge-
verb stem
(possible vowel change)
-t
bringen → gebracht
to bring → brought
denken → gedacht
to think → thought
Did you notice the stem vowel change?
bringen → gebracht
denken → gedacht
Here are a few more examples. Notice that they do not always have a vowel change.
Infinitive | Past Participle |
|---|---|
wissen to know | gewusst known |
wollen to want | gewollt wanted |
haben to have | gehabt had |
Separable and inseparable verbs are verbs like einsteigen(to get on) or verpassen(to miss), which are created by adding a prefix to a normal verb. Verbs like these follow slightly different rules, when you’re forming the past participle.
To form the past participle of a separable verb, take the past participle of the “base” verb, then add the prefix to the front. This works for weak, mixed and strong verbs alike.
Base Class | Infinitive | Base Infinitive | Base Participle | Past Participle (prefix + ge-) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Weak | einkaufen to buy | kaufen | gekauft | eingekauft bought |
Strong | vorsingen to audition as a singer | singen | gesungen | vorgesungen auditioned-for as a singer |
anrufen to call | rufen | gerufen | angerufen called | |
Mixed | ausdenken to think up | denken | gedacht | ausgedacht thought up |
anbringen to fix, to mount | bringen | gebracht | angebracht fixed, mounted |
The past participle of an inseparable verb will never have the ge- prefix. The inseparable prefix takes its place.
Base Class | Infinitive | Base Infinitive | Base Participle | Past Participle (no ge-) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Weak | erklären to explain | klären | geklärt | erklärt explained |
zerstören to destroy | stören | gestört | zerstört destroyed | |
Strong | versprechen to promise | sprechen | gesprochen | versprochen promised |
zerfallen to decay | fallen | gefallen | zerfallen decayed | |
Mixed | erkennen to recognize | kennen | gekannt | erkannt recognized |
verbringen to spend (e.g. time) | bringen | gebracht | verbracht spent |
In weak inseparable verbs, you can simply drop the infinitive’s -en ending and replace it with the past participle’s -t suffix.
erklären → erklärt
In German, past participles are primarily used to form perfect tenses, to form the passive voice, and as adjectives, however they have some other uses as well. Let’s look at each use one-by-one.
The perfect tenses are the first place where most German learners will meet the past participle. These tenses, the perfect (or “present perfect”), the past perfect and the future perfect, are created by combining a form of haben(to have) or sein(to be) with a past participle.
Perfect:
haben/sein
present tense
past participle
Das Hochzeitspaar hat die ganze Nacht gesungen und getanzt.
The wedding couple sang and danced all night.
Past Perfect:
haben/sein
past tense
past participle
Alle Studenten bestanden die Prüfung, weil sie viel gelernt hatten.
All students passed the exam because they had studied a lot.
Future Perfect:
haben/sein
future tense
past participle
Morgen um diese Zeit werde ich schon in Berlin angekommen sein.
Tomorrow at this time I will already have arrived in Berlin.
The past participle is also used in forming the passive voice in German. The main verb in passive constructions will be realized as a past participle:
werden
past participle
Die Zuschauer werden mit einem Bus zum Stadion gefahren.
Spectators will be transported to the stadium by bus.
Der Eiffelturm wurde für die Weltausstellung im Jahr 1889 erbaut.
The Eiffel Tower was built for the World's Fair in 1889.
Wird der Vertrag morgen vom Chef unterschrieben werden?
Will the contract be signed by the boss tomorrow?
Just like in English, German past participles can be used as attributive adjectives (i.e. adjectives before a noun). Adjectives like these typically describe nouns that have undergone or experienced the verb.
Die eingelegten Gurken sind lecker!
The pickled cucumbers are delicious!
Eine zerkratzte Pfanne sollte man schnellstmöglich ersetzen.
A scratched pan should be replaced as soon as possible.
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Here are some more examples of German past participles being used as adjectives:
Determiner | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
Preceded by a definite article |
| |
Preceded by a demonstrative article |
| |
Preceded by an indefinite article |
| |
Zero article |
| |
Less commonly, past participles can also be used as adverbs. Like other adverbs, the past participle is not inflected when used as an adverb:
Die Schale lag zerbrochen auf dem Boden.
The bowl lay broken on the floor.
Die Studenten hören dem Professor gelangweilt zu.
The students listen to the Professor, bored.
In German, past participles can be turned into nouns (or “nominalized”) that represent someone or something that underwent an action. Such nouns take on the gender of the type of noun that underwent the action and are declined like adjectives.
Der gejagte Bär wurde gefunden. → Der Gejagte wurde gefunden.
The hunted bear was found. → The hunted one was found.
Das gestohlene Handy ist wieder aufgetaucht. → Das Gestohlene ist wieder aufgetaucht.
The stolen cell phone has reappeared. → The stolen one has reappeared.
Die beliebte Lehrerin unterrichtet Deutsch. → Die Beliebte unterrichtet Deutsch.
The popular teacher teaches German. → The popular one teaches German.
For a lot more discussion of participles like this, check out our post on nominalization in German.
Turns out, the past participle makes quite a useful addition to your German tool box! In this article, you have learned the following:
Past participles mostly are formed with one of these patterns:
Weak verbs | ge- stem -en |
|---|---|
Strong verbs | ge- stem -en |
Mixed verbs | ge- stem -en |
Remember the special rules for prefix verbs:
Separable verbs → ge- is inserted between the prefix and the base verb.
Inseparable verbs → the participle prefix ge- is omitted.
List item The German past participle has a number of uses:
perfect tenses
passive voice
as an attributive adjective
as an adverb
in nominalizations
Ready to study? Check out this sorted list with the past participles of common German verbs! Or, if you’d rather practice, check out these German past participle activities to put these new tools to use!
