Present perfect tense with sein or haben

In German, the present perfect tense (Perfekt) is used to express actions that occurred in the past. The structure of the Perfekt is as follows: sein/haben + Partizip II. The use of the auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb) sein or haben also depends on the main verb conjugated in the Partizip II. Today's article will help you distinguish which verbs go with sein and which verbs go with haben in the Perfekt.

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1. In the present perfect tense (Perfekt), the majority of verbs go with the auxiliary verb haben.

Wir haben eine neue Wohnung gesucht.

(We had looked for a new apartment.)

Vor 2 Jahren hat er Frankfurt besucht.

(Two years ago he visited Frankfurt.)

2. The verbs that go with sein are those that:

• Indicate movement (fahren, gehen, fallen, fliegen, umziehen, kommen, reisen,...)

Im 2020 sind Max und Anna zweimal gereist.

(In 2020 Max and Anna traveled twice.)

• Indicate a change of state (aufwachsen, einschlafen, sterben, zerfallen…)

Gestern bin ich um 21 Uhr eingeschlafen, weil ich so müde war.

(Yesterday I fell asleep at 9 p.m. because I was so tired.)

• Some special verbs (passieren, bleiben, gelingen, misslingen, geschehen…)

Wir möchten wissen, was passiert ist?

(We want to know what happened.)

3. Note: Normally the verbs sein, werden, haben and Modalverben are conjugated in the simple past tense (Präteritum) instead of the present perfect (Perfekt).

Letzte Woche waren sie krank.

(Last week they were sick.)

Frau Mary musste einen wichtigen Bericht schreiben.

(Frau Mary had to write an important report.)

4. Some verbs can go with both sein and haben in the Perfekt tenseExample: reiten, rudern, schwimmen, segeln, springen, surfen, tanzen, tauchen, abbrechen, anfallen, aufziehen, bekommen, heilen, dringen, rollen, schwingen,...

- When expressing movement, change of state, or acting as an intransitive verb, these verbs take the auxiliary verb sein.

Wir sind durch das Zimmer getanzt.

(We danced across the room.)

→ In this case, the activity of dancing tanzen throughout the room expresses movement and displacement, so we use the auxiliary verb sein.

- When not expressing movement and acting as a transitive verb (with an Akkusativ object), they take the auxiliary verb haben.

Wir haben Tango getanzt.

(We danced the Tango.)