Imperfekt

Imperfekt is a term used in grammar to denote a past tense that describes actions in the past without necessarily marking their termination. It is commonly associated with the German term Präteritum, the simple past tense, but is also used in the study of other languages to refer to an imperfect or imperfective past. In German, Imperfekt (Präteritum) contrasts with the Perfekt, the present perfect, which is more common in speech, while Präteritum is often preferred in formal writing and narrative.

In German, the Imperfekt is formed with specific endings for weak (regular) verbs and with stem changes for strong (irregular) verbs. Weak verbs typically take the endings -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten: sagen becomes ich sagte, du sagtest, er sagte, wir sagten, ihr sagtet, sie sagten. Strong verbs change their stem vowel and usually add the same set of endings: gehen becomes ich ging, du gingst, er ging, wir gingen, ihr gingt, sie gingen. Examples include sehen: ich sah, du sahst, er sah, wir sahen, ihr saht, sie sahen; bleiben: ich blieb, du bliebst, er blieb, wir blieben, ihr bliebt, sie blieben. The Imperfekt is commonly used for narrative past, historical narration, and formal writing.

In Latin and many Romance languages, the Imperfect (imperfect tense) expresses ongoing or habitual past actions and background descriptions. Latin forms include -bam, -bas, -bat, -bamus, -batis, -bant; Spanish and Portuguese use -aba or -ía endings for -ar and -er/-ir verbs, respectively. The concept of imperfect complements other past tenses such as the perfect or aorist, depending on the language. The term derives from Latin imperfectus, meaning unfinished.