How can we talk about the past in German? In this video, Eylin talks about how the perfect tense is formed. The perfect tense in German is equivalent to either the English preterite or present perfect depending on the context.

How do we know whether to use “haben” or “sein” when forming the perfect past tense? Eylin gives you some guidelines to help you start out (there are always exceptions, of course!).

In the final part of the video, Eylin gives you the chance to apply what you’ve learned – and form the perfect tense on your own! Keep in mind that the German perfect tense is also used to speak about actions that are finished, and therefore is quite often best translated with the simple past tense in English.

Eylin now explains how to form the participle 2 (the past participle) of regular and irregular verbs, and how to tell the differences between these two groups.

In this fifth part of her series on the perfect tense, Eylin talks about all of the exceptions to the rules. If you have ever wondered what a "transitive verb" is, watch this video!

In this fourth and final part on the perfect tense, you have the chance to practice and apply your new knowledge together with Eylin. Have fun!