Simple Past of Common Verbs

Level 4

A few common verbs have a one-word past form: Hie koum, sot Moien a goung erëm. (He came, said hello and left again.)

How It Works

1. The forms

  • kommen → ech koum, du koums, hie koum, mir koumen, dir koumt, si koumen
  • goen → ech goung, du goungs, hie goung, mir goungen, dir goungt, si goungen
  • ginn → ech gouf, du goufs, hie gouf, mir goufen, dir gouft, si goufen
  • soen → ech sot, du sos, hie sot, mir soten, dir sot, si soten
  • stoen → ech stoung, mir stoungen
  • sëtzen → ech souz, mir souzen
  • kréien → ech krut, mir kruten
  • bleiwen → ech blouf, mir bloufen

The ech and hien forms are the same. The plural forms end in -en and follow the n-rule: mir stoungen eng Stonn, but mir stounge laang.

2. Word order
The form works like any present-tense verb: second place in a main clause, last in a subordinate clause. A separable prefix goes to the end of a main clause: Hie koum eran. In a subordinate clause, it joins up again: ..., wéi hien erakoum.

3. Where you meet them

  • In stories: Wéi de Clown op d'Bün koum, hunn d'Kanner gelaacht.
  • In the news: Bei der Demonstratioun koum et zu Ausschreidungen. (There was rioting at the demonstration.)
  • In fixed phrases: et goung ëm ... (it was about ...), et gouf (there was).

4. Gouf
Gouf mostly means became (Hie gouf Dokter), appears in et gouf (there was), and forms the written past passive. For gave, the perfect is what you usually hear: Hien huet mir e Buch ginn.

5. Do not mix them up
Koum (came) is the past; kéim (would come) is the conditional. See One-Word Conditionals. You can always use the perfect instead of these forms: Hie koum = Hien ass komm.

Examples (6)

  1. Hie koum, sot Moien a goung erëm.

    He came, said hello and left again.

    Three simple past forms in a row, typical of a story.

  2. Wéi de Clown op d'Bün koum, hunn d'Kanner gelaacht.

    When the clown came on stage, the children laughed.

    In the subordinate clause, koum goes to the end.

  3. Mir stoungen eng Stonn am Stau.

    We were stuck in a traffic jam for an hour.

    Stoungen keeps its n before the vowel of eng.

  4. Si souz de ganzen Owend um Computer.

    She sat at the computer all evening.

  5. Ech krut gëschter e Bréif vun der Gemeng.

    Yesterday I got a letter from the town hall.

  6. Mir bloufen doheem, well et gereent huet.

    We stayed at home because it was raining.

    Bloufen keeps its n before d.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding a helper verb to the simple past.

    Hien ass koum.
    Hie koum.

    Koum is already a complete past form. With a helper, use the participle: Hien ass komm.

  • Confusing the past koum with the conditional kéim.

    Gëschter kéim hien ze spéit.
    Gëschter koum hien ze spéit.

    Kéim means would come. For something that really happened yesterday, use koum.

  • Keeping a separable prefix in front of the verb in a main clause.

    Hien erakoum.
    Hie koum eran.

    In a main clause, the prefix goes to the end: koum eran. It only joins the verb in a subordinate clause. Hien becomes hie before k.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Simple Past of Common VerbsLevel 4

Learn This First

Before Simple Past of Common Verbs, learn Simple Past of Modal Verbs.

Words in This Pattern

kommengoensoenstoensëtzenkréienbleiwen