Breakdown of Habt ihr an der Universität studiert?
haben
to have
ihr
you (informal plural)
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
studieren
to study
die Universität
the university
Questions & Answers about Habt ihr an der Universität studiert?
Why doesn't the past participle studiert start with ge-?
In German, verbs that end in -ieren (like studieren) do not get a ge- prefix in the past tense. You just take the verb stem and add a -t at the end, making it studiert.
Why does it say der Universität when university is a feminine noun (die Universität)?
The preposition an here describes a fixed location (where someone studied), which requires the dative case. In the dative case, the feminine article die changes to der.
Could I use studieren to say I studied for a high school math test?
No, studieren specifically means to be enrolled at a university or to major in a subject at college. If you are talking about studying for a test, reviewing notes, or doing homework, you must use the verb lernen (past participle: gelernt).
Why do we start the sentence with Habt?
This is a yes/no question in the past tense, so the helper verb goes in the very first position. The verb studieren uses haben as its helper verb, and because the subject is ihr (the plural informal 'you', like 'you all'), it is conjugated as Habt.
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