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### More Common Simple Past Verbs

Just like *sein*, *haben*, and the modal verbs, a few other highly frequent German verbs are almost always used in the simple past (**Präteritum**) rather than the spoken past, even in casual conversation. 

Three of the most important are **es gibt** (there is), **werden** (to become), and **wissen** (to know).

### Es gab (There was / There were)

To say "there was" or "there were", simply change **es gibt** to **es gab**. Just like in the present tense, the noun that follows it must be in the **accusative** case (notice *einen König* in the first example).

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### Wurde and Wusste

The simple past of **werden** (to become) is **wurde**. 
The simple past of **wissen** (to know a fact) is **wusste**. 

Notice that **wissen** behaves a lot like a modal verb in the past tense: it changes its stem vowel to **u** and adds a **-t-**. As always with the simple past, the **ich** and **er/sie/es** forms are exactly identical.

| Pronoun | werden (became) | wissen (knew) |
|---|---|---|
| **ich / er/sie/es** | wurde | wusste |
| **du** | wurdest | wusstest |
| **wir / sie/Sie** | wurden | wussten |
| **ihr** | wurdet | wusstet |

Use **wurde** to describe historical transformations, getting older, or entering a new state.

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Use **wusste** to describe facts you knew (or didn't know) in the past.

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### States vs. Sudden Realizations

When telling a story about the past, you will often mix these simple past forms with the regular spoken past (**Perfekt**). 

Use the simple past for ongoing background states (what *was*, what you *knew*, what *was there*). But when a sudden event happens or an action is completed, you typically switch back to the spoken past. 

Two common verbs for sudden events are **bemerken** (to notice) and **erkennen** (to recognize / to realize). Notice how the following sentences use the simple past for the ongoing state or feeling, but the spoken past for the sudden realization.

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Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
the king	der König
In the past, there was a king.	Früher gab es einen König.
The king was old and became weak.	Der König war alt und wurde schwach.
the capital	die Hauptstadt
the castle	das Schloss
In the capital, there was a castle.	In der Hauptstadt gab es ein Schloss.
The castle then became a school.	Das Schloss wurde dann eine Schule.
We knew nothing about the capital.	Wir wussten nichts über die Hauptstadt.
the village	das Dorf
The village became rich.	Das Dorf wurde reich.
Nobody knew the answer.	Niemand wusste die Antwort.
the situation	die Situation
The situation suddenly became dangerous.	Die Situation wurde plötzlich gefährlich.
the danger	die Gefahr
I knew about the danger and was afraid.	Ich wusste von der Gefahr und hatte Angst.
There was no danger in the village.	Im Dorf gab es keine Gefahr.
to notice	bemerken
Suddenly I knew it, because I noticed the mistake.	Plötzlich wusste ich es, denn ich habe den Fehler bemerkt.
He noticed the situation immediately.	Er hat die Situation sofort bemerkt.
to recognize / to realize	erkennen
She did not recognize the king.	Sie hat den König nicht erkannt.
I became nervous because I realized the problem.	Ich wurde nervös, denn ich habe das Problem erkannt.