Vergangenheit: past simple/continuous und present/past perfect

Das Wichtigste in Kürze

Man kann im Englischen mithilfe von zahlreichen Zeitformen über die Vergangenheit sprechen. In dieser Zusammenfassung wird Dir die Bildung sowie die Verwendung einiger solcher Vergangen-heitsformen erklärt, nämlich vom „past simple“, vom „past continuous“, vom „present perfect“, vom „past perfect“ und schliesslich vom „past perfect continuous“. Wie die dazugehörigen Verneinungen und Frageformen gebildet und verwendet werden, erfährst Du in einer separaten Zusammen-fassung.

Info 1: „past simple“

Bildung

Was die Bildung des „past simple“ betrifft, gibt es regelmässige und unregelmässige Verben. Das „past simple“ von regelmässigen Verben bildet man, indem man der Grundform des Verbs die Endung „-ed“ hinzufügt (bzw. „-d“, wenn die Grundform auf „-e“ endet).

Bei den (leider zahlreichen) unregelmässigen Verben gibt es einerseits solche, bei denen die „past simple“-Form genau gleich wie die Grundform aussieht („put“, „cut“, „set“, „cost“, „hit“), andererseits die komplett unregelmässigen, welche man einfach auswendig lernen muss.

Person	to play (regelm.)	to cut (unregelm.)	to be (unregelm.)	to have (unregelm.)
1. Pers. Sg.	I played	I cut	I was	I had
2. Pers. Sg.	you played	you cut	you were	you had
3. Pers. Sg.	he, she, it played	he, she, it cut	he, she, it was	he, she, it had
1. Pers. Pl.	we played	we cut	we were	we had
2. Pers. Pl.	you played	you cut	you were	you had
3. Pers. Pl.	they played	they cut	they were	they had

Verwendung

Das „past simple“ wird verwendet, um über etwas zu sprechen, das vollkommen in der Vergangen-heit liegt und bereits abgeschlossen ist. Im Folgenden findest Du eine Auflistung der Fälle, in denen „past simple“ verwendet wird:

· Empfindungen in der Vergangenheit	He was proud of his son’s achievements in school. The kitchen was the pride of her new house. Nigel loved the way his watch reflected the light.
· Vergangenes Ereignis	I drove around Switzerland with my motorcycle. We sat in the waiting room for ages. She had a huge crash on the way to work.
· Vergangenes Ereignis mit Zeitangabe	I went scuba-diving two years ago. You tried Japanese whisky last year. She ate a lot of spicy food when she was in India.
· Beschreibung von Unterschieden zwischen der Gegenwart und Vergangenheit	I used to have long hair. (= I don’t have long hair now.) I used to live in a mansion. (= I don’t live there now.) I used to smoke. (= I don’t smoke now.)

Info 2: „past continuous“

Bildung

Das „past continuous“ wird gebildet, indem man die konjugierte Vergangenheitsform vom Hilfsverb „to be“ („was“ oder „were“) mit dem „present participle“ (= Partizip 1/Partizip Präsens) eines anderen Verbs kombiniert.

Person	to play	to cut	to be	to have
1. Pers. Sg.	I was playing	I was cutting	I was going	I was having
2. Pers. Sg.	you were playing	you were cutting	you were going	you were having
3. Pers. Sg.	it was playing	she was cutting	he was going	she was having
1. Pers. Pl.	we were playing	we were cutting	we were going	we were having
2. Pers. Pl.	you were playing	you were cutting	you were going	you were having
3. Pers. Pl.	they were playing	they were cutting	they were going	they were having

Verwendung

Das „past continuous“ bezieht sich auf einen (längeren) Vorgang, der in der Vergangenheit statt-gefunden hat und bereits abgeschlossen ist. Weiter kommt es häufig in den folgenden Fällen vor:

· Beschreibungen von Zuständen in der Vergangenheit	It was raining a lot that September. As I spoke, the audience was listening intently. At that time, I was living in a tiny studio apartment.
· Vorgänge in der Vergangenheit, die unterbrochen wurden	I was reading when you called. We were enjoying our day when we got the news. The audience was shouting and clapping until the band came back on stage.
· Geschichte einleiten / Schauplatz einer Geschichte beschreiben	We were waiting for our taxi, ready to leave. The sun was burning so hard you couldn’t even stay outside for five minutes. I was struggling financially at the time.
· Erläuterungen, was zu einer bestimmten Uhrzeit passierte	I was walking the dog at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. At midnight, I was finally going to bed. I was leaving for my vacation at 5 o’clock.
· Gewohnheit, die in der Vergangenheit liegt	As teenagers they were talking constantly in class. He was smoking like a chimney in those days. I was running daily when I was living in the mountains.

Achtung: Obwohl es beim „past continuous“ kaum Unregelmässigkeiten gibt, eignet sich nicht jedes Verb, um eine kontinuierliche Handlung zu beschreiben. So zum Beispiel das Verb „to arrive“:

Beispiel

~~He was arriving at midnight.~~

He arrived at midnight.

Info 3: „present perfect“

Bildung

Das „present perfect“ wird gebildet, indem man das Hilfsverb „to have“ konjugiert und mit dem „past participle“ (= Partizip 2/Partizip Perfekt) kombiniert.

Person	to see	to be	to go	to have
1. Pers. Sg.	I have seen	I have been	I have gone	I have had
2. Pers. Sg.	you have seen	you have been	you have gone	you have had
3. Pers. Sg.	he has seen	she has been	it has gone	she has had
1. Pers. Pl.	we have seen	we have been	we have gone	we have had
2. Pers. Pl.	you have seen	you have been	you have gone	you have had
3. Pers. Pl.	they have seen	they have been	they have gone	they have had

Vor allem im gesprochenen Englisch wirst Du häufig auch die verkürzten Formen hören:

Person	to see	to be	to go	to have
1. Pers. Sg.	I’ve seen	I’ve been	I’ve gone	I’ve had
2. Pers. Sg.	you’ve seen	you’ve been	you’ve gone	you’ve had
3. Pers. Sg.	he’s seen	she’s been	it’s gone	she’s had
1. Pers. Pl.	we’ve seen	we’ve been	we’ve gone	we’ve had
2. Pers. Pl.	you’ve seen	you’ve been	you’ve gone	you’ve had
3. Pers. Pl.	they’ve seen	they’ve been	they’ve gone	they’ve had

Verwendung

Das „present perfect“ wird hauptsächlich verwendet, wenn vergangene Ereignisse ohne spezifische Zeitangabe genannt werden oder wenn diese bis in die Gegenwart andauern.

· Ereignisse in der Vergangenheit, wenn keine (spezifische) Zeit genannt wird

I have been skiing.

I’ve read many books.

I have drunk a lot of coffee.

· In der Vergangenheit begonnene Handlung, die in der Gegenwart immer noch andauert

She has become aggressive over the last two hours.

They have grown apart over the last few months.

Over the last few days, he has grown desperate.

Achtung: Sobald eine Zeitangabe gemacht wird, darf kein „present perfect“ verwendet werden. Für solche Fälle ist das „past simple“ gedacht.

Beispiel:

I have completed the puzzle.

~~I have completed the puzzle today.~~

I completed the puzzle today.

Info 4: „past perfect“

Bildung

Das „past perfect“ wird gebildet, indem man das Hilfsverb „to have“ im „past simple“ konjugiert und mit dem „past participle“ (= Partizip 2/Partizip Perfekt) kombiniert.

Person	to see	to be	to go	to have
1. Pers. Sg.	I had seen	I had been	I had gone	I had had
2. Pers. Sg.	you had seen	you had been	you had gone	you had had
3. Pers. Sg.	he had seen	she had been	it had gone	she had had
1. Pers. Pl.	we had seen	we had been	we had gone	we had had
2. Pers. Pl.	you had seen	you had been	you had gone	you had had
3. Pers. Pl.	they had seen	they had been	they had gone	they had had

Verwendung

Das „past perfect“ wird hauptsächlich in Verbindung mit dem „past simple“ verwendet und bedeutet, dass das Ereignis im „past perfect“ abgeschlossen und weiter in der Vergangenheit liegt als die Handlung, welche im „past simple“ steht. Es entspricht dem deutschen Plusquamperfekt.

· Ereignisse in der Vergangenheit, welche vor der Erzählzeit des „past simple“ abgeschlossen wurden

I had finished my homework before I went out.

You had written two books by the time you turned thirty.

She had fallen asleep even before dinner started.

Info 5: „past perfect continuous“

Bildung

Das „past perfect continuous“ wird gebildet, indem man das Hilfsverb „to have“ im „past simple“ konjugiert, mit dem „past participle“ (= Partizip 2/Partizip Perfekt) des zweiten Hilfsverbs „to be“ und schliesslich der „-ing“-Form („gerund“) kombiniert.

Person	to play	to be	to have
1. Pers. Sg.	I had been playing	I had been going	I had been having
2. Pers. Sg.	you had been playing	you had been going	you had been having
3. Pers. Sg.	it had been playing	he had been going	she had been having
1. Pers. Pl.	we had been playing	we had been going	we had been having
2. Pers. Pl.	you had been playing	you had been going	you had been having
3. Pers. Pl.	they had been playing	they had been going	they had been having

Vor allem im gesprochenen Englisch wirst Du häufig auch die verkürzten Formen hören:

Person	to play	to be	to have
1. Pers. Sg.	I’d been playing	I’d been going	I’d been having
2. Pers. Sg.	you’d been playing	you’d been going	you’d been having
3. Pers. Sg.	it’d been playing	he’d been going	she’d been having
1. Pers. Pl.	we’d been playing	we’d been going	we’d been having
2. Pers. Pl.	you’d been playing	you’d been going	you’d been having
3. Pers. Pl.	they’d been playing	they’d been going	they’d been having

Verwendung

Das „past perfect continuous“ wird dann verwendet, wenn eine vergangene Handlung vor einem gewissen Zeitpunkt in der Vergangenheit anfing und bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt (oder vielleicht sogar noch länger) andauerte.

· Handlung in der Vergangenheit, die vor einem Zeitpunkt in der Vergangenheit anfing und bis dahin (oder länger) andauert

I had been skiing many years when I had my accident.

I had been waiting for a long time when my dinner finally arrived.

I had been calling you for hours and you never picked up your phone.

Tipp:

Um die englischen Vergangenheitsformen gut zu beherrschen, ist es hilfreich, von jedem Verb mindestens drei Verbformen zu kennen, nämlich die Grundform („root“), die Vergangenheitsform („past simple“) und das Partizip 2 („past participle“).

Besonders für unregelmässige Verben sind diese drei Verbformen zentral. Lerne Verben dem-entsprechend immer mit einer Verbliste, die diese drei Formen beinhaltet, so wirst Du sämtliche englischen Zeitformen im Handumdrehen meistern!

Grundform/„root“	„past simple“	„past participle“
sing	sang	sung
dance	danced	danced
be	was / were	been
come	came	come
do	did	done
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
find	found	found
fly	flew	flown
go	went	gone
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
sleep	slept	slept
speak	spoke	spoken
stand	stood	stood
swim	swam	swum
write	wrote	written