This deep dive covers Die Vergangenheit von sein, haben und es gibt within The imperfect of haben and sein (war, hatte, es gab) for GCSE German. Revise The imperfect of haben and sein (war, hatte, es gab) in Time Markers and the Three Time Frames for GCSE German with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 2 of 4 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
📋 Die Vergangenheit von sein, haben und es gibt
1. war — the past of sein
| Pronomen | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| 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 were |
Beispiele: Ich war müde. (I was tired); Es war toll. (It was great); Wir waren im Urlaub. (We were on holiday — der Urlaub = holiday).
2. hatte — the past of haben
| Pronomen | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| 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 had |
Beispiele: Ich hatte Hunger. (I was hungry — literally "I had hunger"); Er hatte keine Zeit. (He had no time).
3. es gab — the past of es gibt
es gab = there was / there were. It never changes form for singular or plural:
- Es gab viele Leute. — There were many people (die Leute = people, plural only).
- Es gab ein Problem. — There was a problem (das Problem, die Probleme).
⭐ Use these, not the perfect
For these three verbs, German prefers the imperfect in both speech and writing: say Ich war (not Ich bin gewesen), Ich hatte (not Ich habe gehabt). It sounds more natural and is exactly what examiners expect to hear and read.
Annotated model sentences
Die Stadt war schön und es gab viele Geschäfte.
The town was beautiful and there were many shops.
- war — past of sein; describes what the town was like
- es gab — past of es gibt; describes what existed there
- Geschäfte — shops (das Geschäft, die Geschäfte)
Ich hatte Hunger, aber das Restaurant war geschlossen.
I was hungry, but the restaurant was closed.
- hatte — past of haben (Ich hatte Hunger = I was hungry)
- war — past of sein; describes the state of the restaurant
- geschlossen — closed; two imperfect forms working together in one sentence
Practice questions for The imperfect of haben and sein (war, hatte, es gab)
What is the imperfect (simple past) of 'ich bin' (I am)?
What is the imperfect (simple past) of 'ich habe' (I have)?