For transitive verbs the modal verb for forming the present perfect is haben (to have). The modal verb haben is conjugated in present tense, and then the perfect participle is appended.
| haben - the modal verb for transitive verbs | |||||||||||||
| ich
habe du hast er / sie / es hat wir haben ihr habt sie haben |
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| sein - the modal verb for intransitive verbs | |||||||||
| ich bin du bist er / sie / es ist wir sind ihr seid sie sind |
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Now you might wonder how to know the perfect participle
- we'll come to that just in a minute (chapter
15.3.2 to 15.3.5)
| examples * | |
| Ich
habe
einen Kuchen gegessen.
= I have eaten a cake. Du hast einen Brief geschrieben. = You have written a letter. Ich bin nach Italien gegangen. = I have gone to Italy. Wir sind im See geschwommen. = We have swum in the lake. |
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* Don't mind quite
yet about the position of the direct object in the sentence.
The general rule is that the direct or the indirect
object is right after the first conjugated verb (here
habe). If there
is a direct object as well as an indirect one, then
the indirect goes first (again right after the conjugated
verb), then comes the direct one and then comes the
perfect participle. We'll have a look at them now.
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