2.1.3 Simple past of sein and haben

Table of Contents

Overview

In A2 you begin to talk about the past in German. Two verbs are especially important, because they are used all the time and are irregular: sein (to be) and haben (to have). In this chapter you will learn how to use these two verbs in the simple past (Präteritum) for spoken and written German at an elementary level.

Remember that other past forms and time expressions are treated in their own chapters. Here the focus is only on the simple past of sein and haben, how to form it, and how to use it in everyday sentences.

The Simple Past of "sein"

The verb sein is very irregular. You must memorize its simple past forms. The meaning is “was / were”.

Table of sein in the simple past:

Person	German	English meaning
ich	war	I was
du	warst	you were (singular, informal)
er	war	he was
sie	war	she was
es	war	it was
wir	waren	we were
ihr	wart	you were (plural, informal)
sie	waren	they were
Sie	waren	you were (formal, singular and plural)

Important pattern:
"sein" in simple past uses war– as the stem: war, warst, war, waren, wart, waren.

Notice that ich, er, sie, and es all use the same form: war.

The Simple Past of "haben"

The verb haben is also irregular in the simple past, but there is a clear pattern.

Table of haben in the simple past:

Person	German	English meaning
ich	hatte	I had
du	hattest	you had (singular, informal)
er	hatte	he had
sie	hatte	she had
es	hatte	it had
wir	hatten	we had
ihr	hattet	you had (plural, informal)
sie	hatten	they had
Sie	hatten	you had (formal, singular and plural)

Important pattern:
"haben" in simple past uses hatt– as the stem: hatte, hattest, hatte, hatten, hattet, hatten.

Again, ich, er, sie, and es share the same form: hatte.

Word Order with "war" and "hatte"

The verb in simple past works like in the present tense: it is the second element in the main clause.

Examples with war:

Ich war gestern müde.
“I was tired yesterday.”
Gestern war ich müde.
“Yesterday I was tired.”
Er war nicht zu Hause.
“He was not at home.”

Examples with hatte:

Ich hatte keine Zeit.
“I had no time.”
Heute Morgen hatte sie Kopfschmerzen.
“This morning she had a headache.”
Wir hatten viel Arbeit.
“We had a lot of work.”

In main clauses, the simple past forms war and hatte stand in position 2 in the sentence, just like present tense verbs.

Using "war" to Talk About States and Locations in the Past

You use war / waren to say where someone or something was, or to describe a state or condition in the past.

Examples with locations:

Ich war letzte Woche in Berlin.
“I was in Berlin last week.”
Wo warst du gestern Abend?
“Where were you yesterday evening?”
Wir waren am Wochenende zu Hause.
“We were at home at the weekend.”

Examples with descriptions:

Das Wetter war schön.
“The weather was nice.”
Der Film war langweilig.
“The film was boring.”
Meine Eltern waren sehr müde.
“My parents were very tired.”
Wie war dein Urlaub?
“How was your vacation?”

Useful question patterns:

Wo warst du?
“Where were you?”
Wie war es?
“How was it?”
Wann war das?
“When was that?”

Using "hatte" to Talk About Possession and Situations in the Past

You use hatte / hatten to talk about having or not having something in the past, or to describe situations with “had”.

Examples with possession:

Früher hatte ich ein kleines Auto.
“Before, I had a small car.”
Sie hatte gestern keine Zeit.
“She had no time yesterday.”
Hattet ihr viel Geld?
“Did you have a lot of money?”
Wir hatten einen Hund.
“We had a dog.”

Examples with situations:

Er hatte gestern Geburtstag.
“He had his birthday yesterday.”
Ich hatte gestern einen Termin beim Arzt.
“I had an appointment at the doctor yesterday.”
Die Kinder hatten Ferien.
“The children had holidays.”

Useful question patterns:

Hattest du gestern Unterricht?
“Did you have class yesterday?”
Wann hattet ihr Urlaub?
“When did you have vacation?”
Wer hatte die Idee?
“Who had the idea?”

Negation in the Simple Past with "sein" and "haben"

Negation with war and hatte is very simple. You use nicht with sein and often kein with haben when you talk about “not having” something.

With war:

Ich war nicht zu Hause.
“I was not at home.”
Das Wetter war nicht gut.
“The weather was not good.”

With hatte:

Ich hatte keine Zeit.
“I did not have time.”
Wir hatten kein Geld.
“We did not have money.”
Sie hatte keinen Termin.
“She had no appointment.”

Use nicht to negate sein: “war nicht …”.
Use kein / keine / keinen to negate nouns with haben: “hatte kein …”.

Short Answers in the Simple Past

In conversation you often answer questions with short forms.

With war:

Warst du gestern im Büro?
Ja, ich war im Büro. / Nein, ich war nicht im Büro.
Wart ihr müde?
Ja, wir waren müde. / Nein, wir waren nicht müde.

With hatte:

Hattest du Hausaufgaben?
Ja, ich hatte Hausaufgaben. / Nein, ich hatte keine Hausaufgaben.
Hattet ihr Zeit?
Ja, wir hatten Zeit. / Nein, wir hatten keine Zeit.

You can also answer very short:

Warst du krank?
Ja, war ich. / Nein, war ich nicht.
Hattest du Geld?
Ja, hatte ich. / Nein, hatte ich nicht.

Recognizing Simple Past in Texts

At A2 level you will often see war, waren, hatte, and hatten in short stories, emails, or messages. They usually show that something is in the past without using extra words like “did” in English.

Example short text:

Gestern war ich sehr beschäftigt. Am Morgen war ich im Büro. Ich hatte viele E-Mails. Am Nachmittag hatte ich ein langes Meeting. Am Abend war ich müde und hatte keine Energie mehr.

You can see that every war and hatte refers to yesterday.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Many learners mix present tense and simple past, or mix the forms of sein and haben.

Typical mistakes:

Ich bin gestern müde.
Correct: Ich war gestern müde.
Ich habe keine Zeit gestern.
Correct: Ich hatte gestern keine Zeit.
Wir waren ein Auto.
Correct: Wir hatten ein Auto.
(You use haben for possession, not sein.)
Er hatte in Berlin.
Correct for location: Er war in Berlin.

Remember:
Use war / waren to describe states and locations in the past.
Use hatte / hatten to talk about having something or having a situation in the past.

Vocabulary List for This Chapter

German	English	Notes
sein	to be	infinitive
haben	to have	infinitive
ich war	I was	simple past of sein
du warst	you were (singular, informal)	simple past of sein
er war	he was	simple past of sein
sie war	she was	simple past of sein
es war	it was	simple past of sein
wir waren	we were	simple past of sein
ihr wart	you were (plural, informal)	simple past of sein
sie waren	they were	simple past of sein
Sie waren	you were (formal)	simple past of sein
ich hatte	I had	simple past of haben
du hattest	you had (singular, informal)	simple past of haben
er hatte	he had	simple past of haben
sie hatte	she had	simple past of haben
es hatte	it had	simple past of haben
wir hatten	we had	simple past of haben
ihr hattet	you had (plural, informal)	simple past of haben
sie hatten	they had	simple past of haben
Sie hatten	you had (formal)	simple past of haben
gestern	yesterday	time expression
früher	earlier, before, in the past	time expression
letzte Woche	last week	time expression
am Wochenende	at the weekend	time expression
Urlaub	vacation, holiday	noun (masc., der Urlaub)
Ferien	holidays (school, university)	noun (plural, die Ferien)
Termin	appointment	noun (masc., der Termin)
Zeit	time	noun (fem., die Zeit)
Geld	money	noun (neut., das Geld)
Idee	idea	noun (fem., die Idee)
müde	tired	adjective
krank	ill, sick	adjective
beschäftigt	busy	adjective
langweilig	boring	adjective
schön	nice, beautiful	adjective
gestern Abend	yesterday evening	time expression
heute Morgen	this morning	time expression
Wo warst du?	Where were you?	question
Wie war es?	How was it?	question
Wann war das?	When was that?	question
Hattest du Zeit?	Did you have time?	question
Wer hatte die Idee?	Who had the idea?	question

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