Breakdown of Wir sind heute früh zum Bahnhof gegangen und haben unsere Fahrkarten gekauft.
sein
to be
und
and
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
wir
we
gehen
to go
zu
to
heute
today
haben
to have
kaufen
to buy
früh
early
unsere
our
der Bahnhof
the train station
die Fahrkarte
the ticket
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Questions & Answers about Wir sind heute früh zum Bahnhof gegangen und haben unsere Fahrkarten gekauft.
Why does the verb gehen use sein as its auxiliary in the perfect tense instead of haben?
In German, verbs that indicate movement or a change of state typically take sein as the auxiliary in the perfect tense. Since gehen is a motion verb, it pairs with sein (resulting in sind gegangen) rather than haben.
Why does the sentence use two different auxiliary verbs, sind and haben?
Each verb in the sentence follows its own rule for forming the perfect tense. Gehen (to go), being a verb of motion, uses sein (yielding sind gegangen), while kaufen (to buy), which doesn’t denote motion, uses haben (yielding haben gekauft). Even though both actions are completed and share the subject wir, the auxiliaries reflect the nature of each verb.
What does the contraction zum represent in this sentence?
The contraction zum stands for zu dem, and it is used to indicate direction. In this example, zum Bahnhof means "to the train station," clearly showing the destination of the movement.
What does heute früh mean, and what is its role in the sentence?
Heute früh translates to "early today." It serves as a time expression that specifies when the actions occurred. In German, such temporal phrases are typically placed near the beginning of the sentence, just after the subject.
Why are the past participles gegangen and gekauft placed at the end of their respective clauses?
In German perfect tense constructions, the past participle is generally positioned at the end of the clause. This rule is evident in the sentence: gegangen concludes the clause with gehen, and gekauft concludes the clause with kaufen.
What does unsere Fahrkarten mean, and why is the possessive unsere used?
Unsere Fahrkarten means "our tickets." The possessive pronoun unsere indicates that the tickets belong to us (the speakers), clarifying ownership in the context of the sentence.