The past participle (Partizip II)

CA126

The past participle (Partizip II) of regular verbs is formed with the prefix ge-, the verb stem and the ending -t.

infinitive	past participle (Partizip II)
spielen	ge-spiel-t
kochen	ge-koch-t
tanzen	ge-tanz-t
lernen	ge-lern-t
malen	ge-mal-t

When the verb stem ends in -d or -t, it takes the ending -et. This is also the case with verbs whose stem ends in a consonant + -m, -n. Exception: When an -r stands before -m or -n, like verbs formen, wärmen, lernen, turnen.

infinitive	past participle (Partizip II)
arbeit-en	ge-arbeit-et
red-en	ge-red-et
rechn-en	ge-rechn-et
atm-en	ge-atm-et

CA126A

The past participle (Partizip II) of irregular verbs is formed with the prefix ge-, the present perfect stem and the ending -en.

infinitive	past participle (Partizip II)
lesen	ge-les-en
fahren	ge-fahr-en
bitten	ge-bet-en
gehen	ge-gang-en
treffen	ge-troff-en

CA126B

Mixed verbs form the past participle (Partizip II) with the prefix ge-, the present perfect stem and the ending -t.

infinitive	past participle (Partizip II)
denken	ge-dach-t
bringen	ge-brach-t
kennen	ge-kann-t
nennen	ge-nann-t
rennen	ge-rann-t

CA126C

Certain verbs form the past participle (Partizip II) without the prefix ge-.

	verbs that form the past participle (Partizip II) without ge-	Examples
A	inseparable verbs with prefixes er-, ver-, zer-, be-, ge-, ent-, emp-, hinter-	erklärt, verstanden, zerstört, bekommen, genesen, entkommen, empfohlen, hinterfragt
B	separable verbs that are formed with a verb belonging to group A or C	vorbereitet, abbezahlt, überreagiert
C	verbs ending in -ieren	studiert, repariert, telefoniert
D	verbs with prefixes über-, unter-, um-, durch-, wider-, when they are inseparable and unstressed	umarmt, überstanden, durchdacht

CA126D

Inflected and non-inflected forms of the past participle (Partizip II)

When the past participle (Partizip II) is combined with a finite verb form, it is not inflected. Its subject is identical to the subject of the finite verb.

Example

Paul hat die ganze Pizza gegessen.

When the past participle (Partizip II) precedes a noun, it is inflected, similarly to an adjective and according to the gender, case and number of the noun. It can take a number of arguments (objects, adverbials), both required or free.

Example

Die zur Party eingeladenen Freunde.