Every Monday someone at work will ask how your weekend was. Learn to answer in full sentences with the Perfekt, the past tense Germans use most when they speak.
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| German | Meaning |
|---|---|
| das Wochenende, -n | weekend |
| Wie war dein Wochenende? | How was your weekend? |
| Was hast du gemacht? | What did you do? |
| gestern | yesterday |
| vorgestern | the day before yesterday |
| letzte Woche | last week |
| letztes Wochenende | last weekend |
| am Samstag / am Sonntag | on Saturday / on Sunday |
| putzen | to clean |
| kochen | to cook |
| spielen | to play |
| hören | to hear, to listen to |
| kaufen | to buy |
| lernen | to learn, to study |
| telefonieren (mit) | to phone, to talk on the phone (with) |
| faulenzen | to laze around |
| spannend | exciting |
| langweilig | boring |
| der Freund, -e / die Freundin, -nen | friend |
| das Spiel, -e | game, match |
| der Fernseher, - | television set |
| im Fernsehen | on TV |
| danach | afterwards |
| endlich | finally, at last |
When Germans talk about the past in conversation, they mostly use the Perfekt. It has two parts: a form of haben in position 2 and the participle at the very end of the sentence. Everything else goes in between, like the bread in a sandwich. This is called the sentence bracket.
| Person | haben | … | participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | habe | am Samstag | gekocht |
| du | hast | gestern | gearbeitet |
| er / sie / es | hat | Fußball | gespielt |
| wir | haben | Biryani | gemacht |
| ihr | habt | lange | gewartet |
| sie / Sie | haben | Musik | gehört |
In a question, haben moves to position 1 but the participle stays at the end: Hast du am Wochenende gearbeitet?
Regular (weak) verbs build the participle in a very predictable way: take the stem and put ge- in front and -t at the end: machen → gemacht, kaufen → gekauft, spielen → gespielt, putzen → geputzt.
Many everyday verbs are regular, so with this one rule you can already tell a lot of stories: Ich habe eingekauft comes in lesson 3, and irregular verbs like gegessen in lesson 2.
Time expressions such as gestern, vorgestern, am Samstag, letzte Woche, letztes Wochenende often start the sentence. The verb (haben) must still be in position 2, so the subject moves behind it: Gestern habe ich lange gearbeitet. – not Gestern ich habe …. This is the most common mistake for English and Hindi speakers, so say the pattern aloud a few times: time – verb – subject – rest – participle. Letzte Woche hat Priya viel Deutsch gelernt.
Tap the words in the right order.
Write an email of 60–80 words to a German friend about your last weekend. Say what you did on Saturday and on Sunday, who you were with, and how it was. Use the Perfekt with haben. End with a question to your friend.
Hallo Lisa, wie geht's? Mein Wochenende war sehr schön. Am Samstagvormittag habe ich meine Wohnung geputzt. Am Nachmittag habe ich mit Ravi und Meena gekocht. Wir haben Dal und Reis gemacht und lange geredet. Am Sonntag hat es geregnet. Ich habe mit meinen Eltern in Indien telefoniert und ein bisschen Deutsch gelernt. Am Abend habe ich Musik gehört und gefaulenzt. Und du? Was hast du am Wochenende gemacht? Viele Grüße Priya
In German offices, Wie war dein Wochenende? on a Monday is friendly small talk, not a real interview. Two or three sentences are the perfect answer, and it is polite to ask back: Und du? or Und bei dir?. Many teams use du with each other; if you are not sure, listen to how your colleagues speak or simply ask Duzen wir uns?
Sunday is a quiet day in Germany. Most shops are closed, so people plan their shopping for Saturday. Bakeries, petrol stations and shops at big railway stations are often open for a few hours. Many Germans spend Sunday with a walk, a long breakfast or simply at home – which is exactly what faulenzen means.
Related: Verb conjugation trainer · German A2 lessons · German work culture
