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German grammar Part of Chapter 6

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (21 questions)

German Past Participles: gemacht, gesprochen, verstanden

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

The past participle is the done, seen or gone of German: the form at the end of . Regular verbs take ge- and -t, strong verbs ge- and -en, and a stress rule decides when there is no ge- at all. Every perfect tense sentence needs one.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Each sentence has one wrong participle. Tap it.

The whole system on one screen

The highlighter marks what is added to the verb; the box marks a vowel that changes.

ge- and the endinga new vowelWhat do the colours mean?
FamilyRuleExample
weakge- + stem + -t
strongge- + stem + -en
mixedge- + new vowel + -t
-ierenno ge-, just -t
be-, ver-...no ge-
separablege- in the middle

Three questions settle any verb: is it weak or strong, does it start with a stressed syllable, and does it have a prefix that splits off?

Weak verbs: ge- + stem + -t

Most German verbs are weak, and every new one is. Drop the -en of the infinitive, put ge- in front and -t behind:

machen: drop -en, add ge- and -t: gemacht
InfinitiveParticipleEnglish
done
said
played
bought
learnt
worked

A stem ending in -t or -d adds an extra e so the ending can be heard: , not gearbeit.

  • . - I bought bread.
  • . - We worked all day.

Strong verbs: ge- + stem + -en

The strong verbs are the old, common ones. Their participles end in -en, and many change their vowel, the way English goes speak, spoken and drink, drunk:

InfinitiveParticipleEnglish
seen
come
driven
spoken
drunk
found
taken
gone
sprechen becomes gesprochen: ge-, a new vowel, -en

The new vowel cannot be predicted from the infinitive, but it runs in families, and the English cousin is often the best guide: , like drink, drunk; , like find, found.

  • . - I saw him.
  • . - We talked for a long time.

Mixed verbs: the -t plus a new vowel

ge- and the endinga new vowelWhat do the colours mean?

A small group, all of them common, takes the weak -t and a strong vowel change. English does the same with bring, brought and think, thought:

InfinitiveParticipleEnglish
brought
thought
known (a fact)
known (a person, a place)
  • . - I didn't know that.

No ge-: -ieren and unstressed prefixes

As a rule, ge- only goes on a verb whose first syllable is stressed. Two groups start with an unstressed syllable, so they skip it.

Verbs in -ieren, mostly loans from French or Latin, stress the -ier-:

InfinitiveParticipleEnglish
happened
studied
worked (of a machine)

Verbs with an unstressed prefix: be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver- and zer-. The participle often looks exactly like the infinitive:

InfinitiveParticipleEnglish
got
forgotten
understood
told
visited
  • ? - What happened?
  • . - I didn't understand that.

A few prefixes, such as über-, go either way. When they are unstressed they behave like ver-: (to translate) gives .

Separable verbs: ge- in the middle

A separable verb has a stressed prefix that splits off in the present ( ). In the participle the prefix stays at the front, and ge- slides in after it:

anrufen becomes angerufen: the ge- goes after the prefix
InfinitiveParticipleEnglish
phoned
started
stopped
shopped
got up
  • . - I rang my mother.
  • . - The film has already started.

The part after the prefix builds its participle as it would on its own: , , so , . German separable verbs has the prefixes.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
geverstandenver- is unstressed
-ieren takes no ge-
geanrufenge- after the prefix
gesprecht is strong
gearbeit-t stem adds -et

What to do next

  1. Learn every new verb with its participle: , , not just .
  2. Say the participle aloud and listen for the stress: no stress on the first syllable, no ge-.
  3. Put the participles to work in the German perfect tense, where the only other decision is or .

Practise: test yourself

Build the word

0/4

Build the past participle from its pieces.

  1. machen (weak)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

    Your word is empty.

  2. sprechen (strong)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

    Your word is empty.

  3. anrufen (separable)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

    Your word is empty.

  4. verstehen (no ge-)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

    Your word is empty.

Sort into groups

0/8

Where does the ge- go in each verb's participle?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each sentence has one wrong participle. Tap it.

Matching

0/5

Match each infinitive to its past participle.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you form the past participle in German?
It depends on the verb's family. Weak (regular) verbs wrap the stem in ge- and -t: , ; , . Strong verbs use ge- and -en, often with a vowel change: , . A small mixed group combines the -t with a vowel change: , .
Which German verbs do not take ge- in the past participle?
Two groups. Verbs ending in -ieren (, ; , ) and verbs with an unstressed prefix: be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver- and zer- (, ; , ; , ). The rule underneath is stress: with very few exceptions, ge- only goes on a verb whose first syllable is stressed.
Where does ge- go in a separable verb?
Between the prefix and the stem: becomes , becomes , becomes . The stressed prefix stays at the front, exactly where it sits in the infinitive, and the rest of the verb builds its participle as usual.
How do I know if a German verb is strong or weak?
You cannot tell from the infinitive alone, so learn the participle with the verb. Two things help: every new or borrowed verb is weak, and the strong verbs are the old, common ones, often with an English cousin that is irregular too: , like drink, drunk; , like find, found.
Is the German past participle the same as the English one?
It does the same jobs: with or it makes the perfect tense ( , I did that or I have done that), and with it makes the passive. The difference is position: in a German main clause the participle goes to the very end.