sprechen simple past (Präteritum) conjugation
Sprechen (to speak, talk) in the simple past (Präteritum): sprach, sprachst, sprach, sprachen, spracht, sprachen.
Präteritum Simple past
| ich | regular: sprechte |
|---|---|
| du | regular: sprechtest |
| er/sie/es | regular: sprechte |
| wir | regular: sprechten |
| ihr | regular: sprechtet |
| sie/Sie | regular: sprechten |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the simple past (Präteritum)
The Präteritum is the past tense of written narrative. In speech it is used mainly for sein, haben, werden and the modal verbs; other verbs usually take the Perfekt.
How it is formed
Weak verbs add te, test, te, ten, tet, ten to the stem (machte). Strong verbs change the stem vowel and take no ending in ich and er/sie/es (ging, sah, kam).
Sprechen is irregular here. 6 of 6 forms break the pattern (dark tiles above); the regular pattern would give sprechte, sprechtest, sprechte, sprechten, sprechtet, sprechten.
Read more: German past tense: Perfekt vs Präteritum
Sprechen in a sentence
- Er spricht sehr gut Deutsch.He speaks German very well.
- Wir haben gestern über das Problem gesprochen.We talked about the problem yesterday.
Stem-changing: du sprichst, er spricht; often used with über + Akk.
FAQ
What is the simple past (Präteritum) of sprechen?
Sprechen in the German simple past (Präteritum): ich sprach, du sprachst, er/sie/es sprach, wir sprachen, ihr spracht, sie/Sie sprachen.
Is sprechen irregular in the simple past (Präteritum)?
Yes. 6 of 6 forms break the regular pattern: ich sprach (regular would be sprechte); du sprachst (regular would be sprechtest); er/sie/es sprach (regular would be sprechte); wir sprachen (regular would be sprechten); ihr spracht (regular would be sprechtet); sie/Sie sprachen (regular would be sprechten).
When do you use the German simple past (Präteritum)?
The Präteritum is the past tense of written narrative. In speech it is used mainly for sein, haben, werden and the modal verbs; other verbs usually take the Perfekt.
How is the simple past (Präteritum) formed?
Weak verbs add te, test, te, ten, tet, ten to the stem (machte). Strong verbs change the stem vowel and take no ending in ich and er/sie/es (ging, sah, kam).
Full sprechen conjugation, all tenses →
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