Simple past of sein, haben and modal verbs

In brief

In German, the simple past (Präteritum) of sein, haben, and modal verbs is common even in everyday conversation. Use war for ‘was,’ hatte for ‘had,’ and forms such as konnte, musste, and wollte for ‘could,’ ‘had to,’ and ‘wanted to.’ These forms describe a past situation or ability directly, without an auxiliary verb.

Form

For ich and er/sie/es: sein → war, haben → hatte, können → konnte, müssen → musste, wollen → wollte, dürfen → durfte, sollen → sollte. With du, add -st: du warst, hattest, konntest. With a modal verb, put the other verb in the infinitive at the end: Ich musste arbeiten.

Usage

• Use war and hatte to talk about past states, possessions, or circumstances.
• Use a past modal form to say what someone could, had to, or wanted to do.
• With a modal, leave the action verb in the infinitive at the end of the clause.

Examples

• Ich war gestern krank. — I was sick yesterday.
• Sie hatte keine Zeit. — She didn’t have time.
• Wir konnten nicht kommen. — We couldn’t come.
• Ich musste gestern arbeiten. — I had to work yesterday.

Common mistake

❌ Ich musste gestern zu arbeiten.

✅ Ich musste gestern arbeiten.

After a modal verb such as musste, the German infinitive does not take zu, even though English says ‘had to work’.

Remember

For these frequent verbs, the simple past sounds natural in conversation. After a modal, the action verb stays in the infinitive at the end.