Latest / Learn German with Fexingo / German Simple Past - War and Hatte
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, ready for another episode of Learn German with Fexingo? Luna: Absolutely! I've been practicing the numbers from last time. Elf, zwölf, dreizehn... I almost have them. Lucas: Nice work! Today we're going to talk about the past. In German, when you want to say 'was' or 'had', you use special forms. Luna: Ooh, like 'I was' or 'I had'? Lucas: Exactly. Let's start with 'war' — that means 'was'. For 'I was', we say 'ich war'. Say it with me: ich war. Luna: Ich war. Lucas: Perfect. Now for 'you were' — 'du warst'. Try it: du warst. Luna: Du warst. Lucas: Great. Let's practice with a simple example. 'I was at home.' — Ich war zu Hause. Luna: Ich war zu Hause. Lucas: Yes! Now 'You were at the market.' — Du warst auf dem Markt. Luna: Du warst auf dem Markt. That's a good one. Lucas: Now let's move to 'hatte' — that means 'had'. 'I had' is 'ich hatte'. Say it: ich hatte. Luna: Ich hatte. Lucas: And 'you had' is 'du hattest'. Try it: du hattest. Luna: Du hattest. Lucas: Excellent. Example: 'I had a dog.' — Ich hatte einen Hund. Luna: Ich hatte einen Hund. That's like from the pets episode! Lucas: Right! And 'You had a cat.' — Du hattest eine Katze. Luna: Du hattest eine Katze. Lucas: Let's mix them. 'I was hungry.' — Ich hatte Hunger. Wait, that uses 'hatte' because 'Hunger haben' means 'to be hungry'. Luna: So 'Ich hatte Hunger.' I had hunger. Got it. Lucas: Exactly. Now 'You were tired.' — Du warst müde. Try it. Luna: Du warst müde. Lucas: Perfect. Let's do a quick dialogue. I'll say something in the past, and you respond. 'Ich war im Park.' Luna: Ah, 'I was in the park.' Okay, my turn: 'Ich war auch im Park.' I was also in the park. Lucas: Nice! 'Du warst auch im Park.' Now let's try with 'hatte'. 'Ich hatte einen Apfel.' Luna: I had an apple. 'Ich hatte eine Banane.' Lucas: Wonderful. So remember: 'ich war' and 'du warst' for 'was/were', and 'ich hatte' and 'du hattest' for 'had'. Let's repeat them one more time. Luna: Ich war, du warst, ich hatte, du hattest. Lucas: You've got it. Keep practicing these, and soon you'll be talking about your whole weekend in German. Luna: That would be cool. Thanks Lucas! And thanks Fexingo for another fun episode. Lucas: See you next time. Practice your 'war' and 'hatte' until then!