The perfect tense: haben or sein

In brief

In everyday German, the Perfekt is a common way to talk about completed past events. It combines a present-tense form of haben or sein with a past participle. Most verbs use haben. Use sein with verbs expressing movement to a new place or a change of state, such as gehen, kommen, and aufstehen.

Form

Subject + present tense of haben/sein + other information + past participle at the end: Ich habe gearbeitet. Ich bin nach Hause gegangen.

Usage

• Use haben for most activities, including arbeiten and sehen.
• Use sein for movement to a destination or a change of state; movement alone does not always require sein.
• In a statement, put the conjugated auxiliary in second position and the past participle at the end.

Examples

• Ich habe heute gearbeitet. — I worked today.
• Ich bin nach Hause gegangen. — I went home.
• Sie ist früh aufgestanden. — She got up early.
• Wir haben den Film gesehen. — We watched the film.

Common mistake

❌ Ich habe nach Hause gegangen.

✅ Ich bin nach Hause gegangen.

English uses have to form its present perfect, but German gehen takes sein in the Perfekt.

Remember

Choose the auxiliary for the German verb, not for its English translation.