German · A2 · Family moment
Stories From Saturday in German
Talk about small moments from your child's weekend using the Perfekt, the usual past tense in spoken German. Practise eight verbs with inseparable prefixes: their past participles do not take an added ge-.
What you'll learn
- Describe weekend memories using haben and a past participle.
- Use the past participles of besuchen, bekommen, entdecken, erzählen, erklären, erkennen, vergessen and verlieren.
- Notice how German marks the person receiving something or hearing a story or explanation.
German phrases for stories from saturday
Wir haben am Samstag deinen Freund besucht.
We visited your friend on Saturday.
Besuchen becomes besucht, without ge-. For a female friend, use deine Freundin.
Du hast ein neues Brettspiel bekommen.
You got a new board game.
Bekommen means 'to get' or 'to receive', not 'to become'. Its participle is also bekommen.
Wir haben eine kleine Buchhandlung entdeckt.
We discovered a small bookshop.
Entdecken becomes entdeckt. Eine kleine Buchhandlung is the thing you discovered.
Du hast deinem Cousin eine lustige Geschichte erzählt.
You told your cousin a funny story.
Use the dative deinem Cousin for the person hearing the story. For a female cousin, use deiner Cousine.
Ich habe deinen Freunden die Regeln erklärt.
I explained the rules to your friends.
Deinen Freunden means 'to your friends'. The dative plural adds -n to Freunde.
Du hast deinen Trainer auf dem Foto erkannt.
You recognised your coach in the photo.
Erkennen has the irregular participle erkannt. German uses auf dem Foto for 'in the photo'. For a female coach, use deine Trainerin.
Ich habe die Snacks für deine Übernachtungsparty vergessen.
I forgot the snacks for your sleepover.
Vergessen stays vergessen in the participle. Für means 'for' and takes the accusative.
Du hast deine Busfahrkarte verloren.
You lost your bus ticket.
Verlieren has the irregular participle verloren. Die Busfahrkarte means 'bus ticket'.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
besuchen → besucht
to visit → visited
Use besuchen directly with a person or place: deinen Freund besuchen.
bekommen → bekommen
to get or receive → got or received
For English 'to become', use werden instead.
entdecken → entdeckt
to discover → discovered
Useful for talking about finding a new place or something interesting.
erzählen → erzählt
to tell or narrate → told or narrated
Use eine Geschichte erzählen for 'to tell a story'.
erklären → erklärt
to explain → explained
Use die Regeln erklären for 'to explain the rules'.
erkennen → erkannt
to recognise → recognised
Learn the changed stem together with the verb: erkennen → erkannt.
vergessen → vergessen
to forget → forgotten
The infinitive and past participle look the same.
verlieren → verloren
to lose → lost
The vowel changes in the participle: verlieren → verloren.
Building the Perfekt with haben
All eight verbs here use haben. In a simple statement, the conjugated form of haben comes second, and the past participle goes at the end. Du is the informal singular 'you', used when speaking to your child.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | ich habe + past participle | Ich habe die Regeln erklärt. |
| You | du hast + past participle | Du hast ein Brettspiel bekommen. |
| We | wir haben + past participle | Wir haben eine Buchhandlung entdeckt. |
Inseparable prefixes: no added ge-
The prefixes be-, ent-, er- and ver- stay attached to these verbs. Do not add ge- to their participles. Regular forms end in -t; irregular forms must be learned separately.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| be- | besuchen → besucht; bekommen → bekommen | Wir haben deinen Freund besucht. |
| ent- | entdecken → entdeckt | Wir haben eine kleine Buchhandlung entdeckt. |
| er- | erzählen → erzählt; erklären → erklärt; erkennen → erkannt | Du hast deinen Trainer erkannt. |
| ver- | vergessen → vergessen; verlieren → verloren | Du hast deine Busfahrkarte verloren. |
Telling and explaining: to whom and what?
With erzählen and erklären, the person listening takes the dative. The story or thing explained takes the accusative. German does not need a separate word for 'to' here.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Tell someone something | jemandem etwas erzählen | Du hast deinem Cousin eine Geschichte erzählt. |
| Explain something to someone | jemandem etwas erklären | Ich habe deinen Freunden die Regeln erklärt. |
More examples
Was hast du am Samstag entdeckt?
What did you discover on Saturday?
For a question with was, put hast after the question word and the participle at the end.
Hast du deiner Freundin eine Geschichte erzählt?
Did you tell your friend a story?
A yes/no question starts with hast. Deiner Freundin is dative and refers to a female friend.
Wir haben die Busfahrkarte nicht vergessen.
We didn't forget the bus ticket.
Here, nicht comes before the final participle to make the statement negative.