what is it?
German has two main ways to talk about the past: the Perfekt (used for most verbs in everyday speech) and the Präteritum (the simple past, more common in writing). The verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have) are exceptions: their Präteritum forms — war and hatte — are the standard choice even in spoken German. Using the Perfekt equivalents («ist gewesen», «hat gehabt») sounds unnatural and is best avoided.
when to use it
Past states with sein. Use war whenever you would use «sein» in the present but are referring to the past: identity, location, condition, or description.
Past possession or states with haben. Use hatte for past possession and for fixed expressions that use «haben» in the present (e.g. «Hunger haben», «Zeit haben», «Angst haben»).
Existence with es gab. The past of «es gibt» (there is / there are) is es gab — the Präteritum of «geben» used impersonally. It follows the same rule: use it in speech and writing alike.
In speech as well as writing. Unlike most other verbs, «war» and «hatte» are not restricted to written registers. You will hear them in everyday conversation.
formation
Both verbs are irregular. Their Präteritum forms must be learned as fixed paradigms. Note that the 1st and 3rd person singular share the same form — there is no extra ending.
sein → war
| person | form | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | war | I was |
| du | warst | you were |
| er / sie / es | war | he / she / it was |
| wir | waren | we were |
| ihr | wart | you (pl.) were |
| sie / Sie | waren | they / you (formal) were |
haben → hatte
| person | form | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte | I had |
| du | hattest | you had |
| er / sie / es | hatte | he / she / it had |
| wir | hatten | we had |
| ihr | hattet | you (pl.) had |
| sie / Sie | hatten | they / you (formal) had |
The endings added to the stem hatt- follow a regular weak-verb Präteritum pattern (–, -est, –, -en, -et, -en). The forms of «war» are fully suppletive and must simply be memorised.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Calquing English «was» with war. English uses «was» for both being and having a feeling: «I was hungry.» German splits this: feelings and physical states expressed with «haben» stay with «haben» in the past. Say Ich hatte Hunger, not *Ich war Hunger.
Wrong person endings. The 2nd person plural of «sein» is ihr wart — not *ihr waren. The «wir / sie / Sie» form is «waren»; «ihr» takes «wart». Check the full paradigm above before writing.
Using the Perfekt instead of war / hatte. Saying «ich bin gestern krank gewesen» or «wir haben keine Zeit gehabt» is grammatically possible but sounds clumsy and unnatural. Native speakers consistently prefer war and hatte in all registers. Treat the Perfekt of these two verbs as a form to recognise, not to produce.