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A2Grammatik 12 min
Präteritum: sein, haben, Modalverben
Even though the Perfekt is preferred in speech, the Präteritum of 'sein', 'haben' and the modal verbs is very common in speech too ('ich war', 'ich hatte', 'ich konnte') — in fact, for Germans 'ich war' sounds far more natural than 'ich bin gewesen'. Memorising these forms makes everyday speaking a lot easier.
INTRODUCTION
Even though the Perfekt is preferred in speech, the Präteritum of 'sein', 'haben' and the modal verbs is very common in speech too ('ich war', 'ich hatte', 'ich konnte') — in fact, for Germans 'ich war' sounds far more natural than 'ich bin gewesen'. Memorising these forms makes everyday speaking a lot easier.
12 min3 example sentences 6-question quiz