15.3.2 How
do I know how to form the perfect participle?
That's a tricky question. Actually you don't know. Therefore
you always find the verb tables where you are offered
the different stem-forms infinite of the verb,
(3rd person singular in present tense), 3rd person imperfect
and perfect participle.
They are meant to be learnt by heart, and then you'll find
also the other forms easily. Nevertheless there might
be some help in the following
If you don't know the imperfect,
you don't know whether it's a strong or a weak verb.
Example
schwimmen
= to swim
There are two possibilities to say he swam.*
Er schwimmte
or Er schwamm
* here you see (probably not for the first time) that
the English perfect participle gives often (but by far
not always) a good hint on the right solution.
The right form is
Er schwamm. With
this we know that it's a strong verb with changes in
the vowel. Most strong verbs have changes of vowel in
all the forms. We still don't actually know which one
will be the right vowel in the perfect participle. It
is geschwommen.
to swim
schwimmen - schwamm - geschwommen
ich schwamm
du schwammst
er schwamm
wir schwammen
ihr schwammt
sie schwammen
This verb
has the change in the vowel only in imperfect
(the present forms ich schwimme, du schwimmst,
er schwimmt, wir schwimmen, ihr schwimmt,
sie schwimmen is not effected)
to open
öffnen = öffnete
= geöffnet
ich öffnete
du öffnetest
er öffnete
wir öffneten
ihr öffnetet
sie öffneten
This verb
has no change in the vowel in imperfect; it
is a weak verb. So we know the perfect participle
will most likely not have a change in the
vowel.
to drive
fahren = fuhr = gefahren
ich fuhr
du fuhrst
er/sie/es fuhr
wir fuhren
ihr fuhrt
sie fuhren
This verb
has a change in the vowel in imperfect and
seems to be a strong verb; still there is
no change in the vowel in participle perfect.
s... happens.
to write
schreiben = schrieb = geschrieben
ich schrieb
du schriebst
er/sie/es schrieb
wir schrieben
ihr schriebt
sie schrieben
This verb
has a change in the vowel in imperfect; this
means it is a strong verb and it also has
(even the same) change in the perfect participle.
to bring
bringen = brachte = gebracht
ich brachte
du brachtest
er/sie/es brachte
wir brachten
ihr brachtet
sie brachten
This verb
has a change in the vowel in imperfect; this
means it is a strong verb and it also has
(even the same) change in the perfect participle.
As you see there are lots
of different possibilities. So I'd suggest to become good
friend with your verb table.