You already know sein and haben in the present tense. Their simple-past forms are war (was/were) and hatte (had). These two verbs are special — while most German verbs use a different past tense (the Perfekt, with haben/sein + a past participle) in everyday conversation, sein and haben almost always use this simple past instead, even when people are just chatting. (A handful of other common verbs, especially the modal verbs — wollte, musste, konnte — and wusste, do the same thing; you'll meet those separately.) So war and hatte are two of the most useful past-tense forms you'll learn in German.

Quick shortcut: war — ich war, du warst, er/sie/es war, wir waren, ihr wart, sie/Sie waren. hatte — ich hatte, du hattest, er/sie/es hatte, wir hatten, ihr hattet, sie/Sie hatten.

The simple past of sein: war

Pronoun Form Example
ich war Ich war müde. (I was tired.)
du warst Du warst sehr nett. (You were very nice.)
er/sie/es war Er war Lehrer. (He was a teacher.)
wir waren Wir waren Freunde. (We were friends.)
ihr wart Ihr wart zu Hause. (You all were at home.)
sie/Sie waren Sie waren aus Berlin. (They were / You [formal] were from Berlin.)

These forms aren't built from the present tense (bin, bist, ist, sind) — the simple past of sein is its own irregular set to learn. The good news is there's only one form to learn for ich and er/sie/es together (war), and one for wir and sie/Sie together (waren).

The simple past of haben: hatte

Pronoun Form Example
ich hatte Ich hatte Hunger. (I was hungry — literally "I had hunger.")
du hattest Du hattest viel Zeit. (You had a lot of time.)
er/sie/es hatte Sie hatte zwei Kinder. (She had two children.)
wir hatten Wir hatten eine Wohnung. (We had an apartment.)
ihr hattet Ihr hattet Glück. (You all were lucky.)
sie/Sie hatten Sie hatten ein Auto. (They had / You [formal] had a car.)

Hatte is built from the stem hatt- plus the endings -e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en: ich hatte, du hattest, er/sie/es hatte, wir hatten, ihr hattet, sie/Sie hatten. As with the present tense, ich and er/sie/es share one form (hatte), and wir and sie/Sie share another (hatten).

Why use war and hatte instead of the Perfekt?

For most German verbs, the everyday spoken past is the Perfekt (a form of haben or sein plus a past participle, e.g. ich habe gegessen — I ate). You'll meet that pattern separately. Sein and haben are a well-known exception: German speakers reach for their simple-past forms — war and hatte — even in casual conversation, not just in writing. Ich bin müde gewesen and ich habe Hunger gehabt are grammatically fine and do occur, especially in some regions, but ich war müde and ich hatte Hunger are the simpler, more common everyday choice.

If your own language doesn't have this split — one everyday past tense used for every verb — it's worth remembering as a fact about German specifically: war/hatte are usually the default for a past state or a past possession, even in speech, while many other verbs lean on the Perfekt (auxiliary + past participle) instead — with modal verbs and wissen joining sein/haben as further exceptions.

Word order stays the same

War and hatte follow the exact same second-position rule as their present-tense counterparts — only the verb form itself changes, not where it goes in the sentence:

  • Ich war gestern krank. (subject first)
  • Gestern war ich krank. (time expression first — war still comes second, ich moves after it)
  • Wir hatten letztes Jahr einen Hund. (We had a dog last year.)

In yes/no questions, war and hatte move to the very front, just like ist and hat do in the present: Warst du zu Hause? (Were you at home?) Hattet ihr Zeit? (Did you all have time?)

Negating war and hatte

The choice between nicht and kein doesn't depend on which verb you're using — it depends on what you're negating. Use kein/keine/keinen right before an indefinite noun (one with no article, or with ein), and use nicht for everything else — adjectives, adverbs, and specific/already-mentioned things:

  • Er war kein Lehrer. (He wasn't a teacher. — indefinite noun → kein)
  • Wir hatten kein Geld. (We didn't have any money. — indefinite noun → kein)
  • Ich war nicht müde. (I wasn't tired. — adjective → nicht)
  • Ich hatte den Schlüssel nicht. (I didn't have the key. — a specific, already-mentioned thing → nicht)

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Ich warst müde. → ✅ Ich war müde. (warst belongs only to du, not ich)
  • ❌ Du war sehr nett. → ✅ Du warst sehr nett. (du needs the -st ending: warst)
  • ❌ Wir war Freunde. → ✅ Wir waren Freunde. (wir always takes waren, not war)
  • ❌ Ich hattest Hunger. → ✅ Ich hatte Hunger. (hattest belongs only to du)
  • ❌ Er hatten zwei Kinder. → ✅ Er hatte zwei Kinder. (don't confuse the plural hatten with the singular hatte)
  • ❌ Ihr waren zu Hause. → ✅ Ihr wart zu Hause. (ihr takes wart, not waren)

Quick check

Which form is correct?

  1. Ich ____ (war / warst) gestern sehr beschäftigt.
  2. Du ____ (hatte / hattest) keine Zeit.
  3. Wir ____ (war / waren) letztes Jahr in Berlin.
  4. Sie (she) ____ (hatte / hatten) einen Hund.
  5. ____ (Wart / Warst) ihr zufrieden?
Show answers
  1. war   2. hattest   3. waren   4. hatte   5. Wart

Key takeaways

  • The simple past of sein is war: ich war, du warst, er/sie/es war, wir waren, ihr wart, sie/Sie waren.
  • The simple past of haben is hatte: ich hatte, du hattest, er/sie/es hatte, wir hatten, ihr hattet, sie/Sie hatten.
  • Unlike most other German verbs, sein and haben use this simple past even in everyday speech, not the Perfekt — ich war and ich hatte are the everyday choice over ich bin gewesen or ich habe gehabt. (Modal verbs and wissen behave the same way.)
  • Word order doesn't change from the present tense: the verb stays in second position in statements and moves to the front in yes/no questions.
  • The choice between nicht and kein depends on what's being negated, not on the verb: kein/keine/keinen before an indefinite noun, nicht for adjectives and specific/already-mentioned things.