Breakdown of Plötzlich ist ein Auto gekommen.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
kommen
to come
das Auto
the car
plötzlich
suddenly
Questions & Answers about Plötzlich ist ein Auto gekommen.
Why does this sentence use ist instead of hat?
In the Perfekt (past) tense, most German verbs use haben (to have) as their helper verb. However, verbs that show a change of location or motion from one place to another—like kommen (to come)—use sein (to be) instead. That is why we say ist ... gekommen.
Why is the subject (ein Auto) after the verb (ist)?
In German, the main conjugated verb must always take the second position in a statement. Because this sentence starts with the adverb Plötzlich (Suddenly) in position one, the verb ist must take position two. This pushes the subject (ein Auto) to the third position, right after the verb.
Does ist gekommen mean "has come" or "came"?
It translates best to "came" here! Germans use this tense (the Perfekt) for almost all spoken past-tense actions. While it looks structurally like the English "is come" or "has come", you will usually translate it into English using the simple past tense (came) for a completed action.
Why does the past participle gekommen end in "-en" instead of "-t"?
While regular verbs form their past participle with a ge- at the beginning and a -t at the end (like gemacht), kommen is an irregular verb. Irregular verbs often keep the -en ending in their past participle form, making it simply gekommen.
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