Präteritum of Haben & Sein

The Präteritum (also called the simple past or imperfect) is the other main past tense in German. While the Perfekt dominates spoken German, the Präteritum is preferred in written German — novels, newspaper articles, fairy tales, and formal reports.

However, there are two verbs whose Präteritum forms are used constantly even in everyday speech: haben (to have) and sein (to be). Germans almost always say "ich war" (I was) and "ich hatte" (I had) rather than the Perfekt equivalents. These are the two most important Präteritum forms to learn first.

---

Präteritum of Sein (to Be)

Person	Präteritum	Translation
ich	war	I was
du	warst	you were (informal)
er / sie / es	war	he / she / it was
wir	waren	we were
ihr	wart	you were (plural informal)
sie / Sie	waren	they were / you were (formal)

Key Points

• The ich and er/sie/es forms are identical: war
• The wir and sie/Sie forms are identical: waren
• There is no umlaut or any other irregularity — just memorise the forms

Example Sentences with Sein

• Ich war gestern in Berlin. — I was in Berlin yesterday.
• Warst du schon einmal in Österreich? — Have you ever been to Austria?
• Er war sehr müde. — He was very tired.
• Sie war Lehrerin. — She was a teacher.
• Es war kalt draußen. — It was cold outside.
• Wir waren im Kino. — We were at the cinema.
• Wart ihr zufrieden? — Were you (plural) satisfied?
• Die Kinder waren im Garten. — The children were in the garden.
• Wo waren Sie gestern? — Where were you (formal) yesterday?

---

Präteritum of Haben (to Have)

Person	Präteritum	Translation
ich	hatte	I had
du	hattest	you had (informal)
er / sie / es	hatte	he / she / it had
wir	hatten	we had
ihr	hattet	you had (plural informal)
sie / Sie	hatten	they had / you had (formal)

Key Points

• The ich and er/sie/es forms are identical: hatte
• The wir and sie/Sie forms are identical: hatten
• The stem is hatt- (double t), and regular endings are added

Example Sentences with Haben

• Ich hatte keine Zeit. — I had no time.
• Hattest du Spaß? — Did you have fun?
• Er hatte ein großes Haus. — He had a big house.
• Sie hatte Kopfschmerzen. — She had a headache.
• Es hatte keinen Sinn. — It made no sense. (Literally: It had no sense.)
• Wir hatten Glück. — We were lucky. (Literally: We had luck.)
• Hattet ihr genug zu essen? — Did you (plural) have enough to eat?
• Die Schüler hatten viele Fragen. — The students had many questions.
• Hatten Sie eine gute Reise? — Did you (formal) have a good trip?

---

Why Germans Prefer the Präteritum of Haben and Sein

In spoken German, people almost always use:

• Ich war instead of Ich bin gewesen
• Ich hatte instead of Ich habe gehabt

The reason is simple: the Präteritum forms are shorter and more natural for these two extremely common verbs. Compare:

Perfekt (less common in speech)	Präteritum (preferred in speech)
Ich bin in Berlin gewesen.	Ich war in Berlin.
Ich habe Hunger gehabt.	Ich hatte Hunger.
Es ist schön gewesen.	Es war schön.
Wir haben keine Zeit gehabt.	Wir hatten keine Zeit.

The Perfekt forms sound overly formal or awkward in everyday conversation.

---

Using War and Hatte in Common Expressions

Expressions with war