Breakdown of Es ist kalt, aber wir haben draußen fotografiert.
sein
to be
es
it
haben
to have
aber
but
wir
we
kalt
cold
draußen
outside
fotografieren
to photograph
Questions & Answers about Es ist kalt, aber wir haben draußen fotografiert.
Why doesn't fotografiert have a ge- at the beginning for the past tense?
Most regular verbs get a ge- at the start in the past tense. However, verbs that end in -ieren in their dictionary form, like fotografieren, are an exception. They never get a ge-. You simply take the stem and add a -t at the end to get fotografiert.
The English translation says "took pictures", but where is the word for "pictures" in the German sentence?
In English, it is common to say "take pictures" or "take photos", but German has a single verb that covers this whole idea: fotografieren (to photograph). Because the action is built right into the verb, you don't need a separate word for "pictures".
After aber, why is the verb haben not the very next word? Doesn't the verb have to be second?
aber (but) is a special connecting word that does not count towards the word order of the sentence. It sits in what we call "position zero". The first real piece of the new sentence is wir (position 1), which puts the verb haben exactly where it belongs in position 2.
Why is fotografiert at the very end of the sentence instead of right next to haben?
This is the classic German past tense "bracket". The helping verb (haben) stays in the second position of the sentence, but the past action word (fotografiert) is kicked to the very end. Any details, like draußen (outside), are squeezed between them.
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