Imperfect Tense and Combining Past Tenses

The imperfect tense (das Imperfekt / das Präteritum) is used for narration, descriptions in the past, and with certain common verbs. For GCSE German, you need to know when to use the imperfect vs the perfect tense and how to combine them effectively.

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1. When to Use the Imperfect

Use imperfect for...	Use perfect for...
Written narratives / stories	Spoken German (conversational past)
Descriptions of how things were	Recounting specific events
With sein, haben, modal verbs	With most other verbs
Setting the scene	Actions that happened
In formal writing	In informal writing and speech

Exam tip: At GCSE, the key imperfect forms to know are: war (was), hatte (had), es gab (there was/were), and the modal verbs. For most other past events, use the perfect tense.

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2. sein in the Imperfect (war)