Deutsch · B1 · grammar · 4 minutes
Perfect or preterite?
Choose tense by register, verb, and narrative purpose rather than direct English equivalence.
Understand the choice
Both tenses can locate completed past events. The choice often signals medium and style: spontaneous speech leans compound, sustained written narrative simple, with high-frequency auxiliaries and modals resisting that split.
Core rule: Conversational German favors perfect for most completed actions; written narrative favors preterite, while sein, haben, and modals frequently use preterite in speech.
Notice it in context
Im Gespräch habe ich alles erklärt, aber im Bericht schrieb ich nur das Wichtigste.
In the conversation I explained everything, but in the report I wrote only the essentials.
Habe…erklärt is conversational perfect; schrieb is compact narrative preterite in the report context.
Gestern war ich krank und konnte nicht arbeiten.
Yesterday I was ill and could not work.
War and konnte are natural spoken preterites for sein and a modal.
Dann öffnete sie die Tür und ging hinaus.
Then she opened the door and went out.
A written event sequence uses preterite forms öffnete and ging.
What to remember
- Regional spoken preferences vary, especially between northern and southern German.
- Tense choice does not automatically change whether an event is completed.
Common trap: Do not assume German perfect always equals English present perfect; it often translates a simple past.