Breakdown of Der Zug ist pünktlich abgefahren.
sein
to be
der Zug
the train
abfahren
to depart
pünktlich
on time / punctual
Questions & Answers about Der Zug ist pünktlich abgefahren.
How is the past tense word abgefahren formed?
abgefahren comes from the separable verb abfahren (to depart). To make the past participle of a separable verb, we squeeze ge right between the prefix (ab) and the rest of the verb (fahren). That is why it becomes abgefahren.
Why does this sentence use ist instead of hat for the past tense?
In German, most verbs use haben (to have) to form the past tense, but verbs that show a change of location or motion from A to B use sein (to be). Since the train is departing and moving away, we use ist.
Why is abgefahren at the very end of the sentence?
When using the conversational past tense (the Perfekt), the helping verb (ist in this case) takes the second position in the sentence. The actual action word (the past participle abgefahren) gets pushed to the very end.
Does pünktlich need a special ending here?
No. When a descriptive word is used to describe how an action is done (meaning "on time" or "punctually" here), it acts as an adverb and just uses its basic dictionary form with no extra endings.
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