Breakdown of Der Anruf ist gestern Abend gekommen.
kommen
to come
gestern
yesterday
der Abend
the evening
der Anruf
the call (someone ringing)
Questions & Answers about Der Anruf ist gestern Abend gekommen.
Why does this sentence use ist instead of hat for the past tense?
In German, the spoken past tense (Perfekt) uses either haben or sein as a helping verb. Verbs that describe a movement from A to B or a change of state almost always use sein. Since gekommen (from kommen, meaning to come) is a verb of motion, it requires ist.
The English translation uses the simple past tense (came). Why does German use a perfect tense form (ist gekommen)?
In spoken and informal German, the perfect tense (Perfekt) is the standard way to talk about most events in the past. While English strictly separates the simple past (came) and the present perfect (has come), German speakers generally just use the ist or hat plus past participle form for both.
Why is Abend capitalized here if it comes directly after the adverb gestern?
In the phrase gestern Abend (yesterday evening), gestern is an adverb meaning yesterday, but Abend is still a noun meaning evening. Because all nouns are always capitalized in German, Abend must be capitalized here.
I learned the verb anrufen for calling someone on the phone. Is Anruf related to it?
Yes! Der Anruf is the noun form of the separable verb anrufen (to call). Many German verbs have a related noun that uses the verb stem. Here, the prefix an and the stem ruf come together to form the noun for the call.
Learn Der Anruf ist gestern Abend gekommen and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free