Lesson 55: Yesterday with War and Hatte

Until now, you have mostly talked about what is happening now. In this lesson, you’ll take a small next step and learn how to talk about yesterday and other past situations with two very important verbs: sein and haben.

You are not learning the whole past tense system here. You are learning the most useful past forms first, so you can say simple things like:

Gestern war ich krank.
Yesterday I was sick.

Ich hatte Fieber.
I had a fever.

Das Wetter war schlecht.
The weather was bad.

What You’ll Learn

• How to use war as the past form of sein
• How to use hatte as the past form of haben
• How to talk about yesterday
• How to use past tense with health and weather vocabulary
• How to compare present and past

Talking About The Past

When you want to talk about yesterday or another time in the past, German often changes the verb.

Look at this difference:

Heute bin ich krank.
Today I am sick.

Gestern war ich krank.
Yesterday I was sick.

And:

Heute habe ich Fieber.
Today I have a fever.

Gestern hatte ich Fieber.
Yesterday I had a fever.

So this lesson is about learning two new past forms:

• war from sein
• hatte from haben

The Past Of Sein

You already know:

• ich bin
• du bist
• er ist

Now look at the simple past forms:

The most useful forms for this lesson are:

• ich war = I was
• du warst = you were
• er / sie / es war = he / she / it was
• wir waren = we were

The Past Of Haben

You already know:

• ich habe
• du hast
• er hat

Now look at the simple past forms:

The most useful forms for this lesson are:

• ich hatte = I had
• du hattest = you had
• er / sie / es hatte = he / she / it had
• wir hatten = we had

Time Words That Help

These words make it clear that you are talking about the past:

Examples:

Gestern war ich müde.
Yesterday I was tired.

Letzte Nacht hatte ich Husten.
Last night I had a cough.

Letzte Woche war das Wetter schön.
Last week the weather was nice.

Using War With Health Words

Use war with words you already know from sein sentences.

Present

Ich bin krank.
I am sick.

Past

Ich war krank.
I was sick.

More examples:

Gestern war ich müde.
Yesterday I was tired.

Am Morgen war ich okay.
In the morning, I was okay.

Letzte Nacht war ich nicht fit.
Last night I was not fit.

Using Hatte With Symptoms

Use hatte with words you already know from haben sentences.

Present

Ich habe Fieber.
I have a fever.

Past

Ich hatte Fieber.
I had a fever.

More examples:

Gestern hatte ich Kopfschmerzen.
Yesterday I had a headache.

Letzte Nacht hatte ich Bauchschmerzen.
Last night I had a stomachache.

Am Morgen hatte ich Husten.
In the morning ,I had a cough.

Using War With Weather

Weather works very well with war.

Present

Es ist kalt.
It is cold.

Past

Es war kalt.
It was cold.

Examples:

Gestern war es kalt.
Yesterday it was cold.

Am Abend war es windig.
In the evening, it was windy.

Letzte Woche war das Wetter schlecht.
Last week the weather was bad.

Gestern war es sonnig.
Yesterday it was sunny.

Present And Past Side By Side

This is a good way to see the difference clearly.

A Small Word Order Reminder

The word order stays simple.

With war

Gestern war ich krank.

With hatte

Gestern hatte ich Fieber.

So the time phrase can come first, and the verb still comes in the second position.

Examples:

Gestern war ich müde.
Gestern hatte ich Kopfschmerzen.

Practice