The past participle (Partizip II) is essential for forming tenses as well as for forming the passive. Many German learners have difficulty forming the Partizip II. Therefore, in today's article we will learn together how to form the Partizip II in German. Let's get started!!

A. For regular verbs

1. ge- + Verbstamm (verb stem) + -t

- Most German verbs form the Partizip II according to this formula. Examples:

machen  → gemacht

kaufen → gekauft

lernen → gelernt 

2. ge- + Verbstamm (verb stem) + -et

- Verbs whose stem ends in -t/-d/-m/-n must add an e before adding the t to form the Partizip II. Examples: 

arbeiten → gearbeitet

rechnen → gerechnet 

atmen  → geatmet 

3. -ieren → -iert

- When forming the Partizip II of a verb ending in -ieren, we simply replace the ending -ieren with the ending -iert. Examples:

organisieren → organisiert 

konzentrieren → konzentriert

4. Prefix (Präfix) + ge- + Verbstamm (verb stem) + -t

- This formula is applied to form the Partizip II of separable verbs (trennbare Verben). Examples:

an/machen → angemacht 

auf/bauen → aufgebaut 

mit/spielen → mitgespielt 

5. Verbstamm (verb stem) + -t

- This formula is applied to inseparable verbs (untrennbare Verben). For example: 

bezahlen → bezahlt 

entdecken → entdeckt

erleben → erlebt

B. For irregular verbs

1. (Präfix) + ge- + Verbstamm im Präteritum + -t

- This is how the Partizip II of the Modalverben and some irregular verbs is formed. 

wollen → gewollt

bringen → gebracht

mit/bringen → mitgebracht 

2. (Präfix + ge-) + Verbstamm mit Vokalwechsel + -en

- The Partizip II of irregular verbs ends in -en. In addition, when forming the Partizip II there is often a vowel change (Vokalwechsel) in the word stem (Wortstamm). Examples:

fahren → gefahren

helfen   → geholfen

schreiben  →  geschrieben

beginnen → begonnen

!!!The formulas for forming the Partizip II of irregular verbs are only approximate, so we must memorize each irregular verb and its forms individually.