Simple past: irregular verbs (war, kam, rief, half)

What you are learning here

• You see the Präteritum (simple past) of four very common irregular verbs:
• sein – war …
• kommen – kam …
• rufen – rief …
• helfen – half …

After this explanation you should be able to:

• recognise these forms immediately in texts or conversations,
• build the correct form for each person (ich, du, er …),
• avoid typical “regular” mistakes like kommte or rufte.

1. Why these verbs look so different in the past

In regular verbs you know the pattern:

• machen → ich machte
• arbeiten → ich arbeitete

For sein, kommen, rufen, helfen this does not work.

• The verb stem changes (komm → kam, ruf → rief, hilf → half).
• Then you add the usual past endings to this new stem.

So the question is always:

1. What is the past stem?
2. Which ending do I need for the person (ich, du, er …)?

2. The four key verbs at a glance

3. Step 1 – Learn the new past stems

First, separate the new stem from the endings.

• sein → war-
• kommen → kam-
• rufen → rief-
• helfen → half-

Only this part is irregular. The endings are quite regular.

Tip: Say them aloud as “mini words”:

• war – kam – rief – half

Once these four are automatic, the table becomes much easier.

4. Step 2 – Add the usual Präteritum endings

Now add the endings you already know from many other verbs.

The same endings work for rief- and half-:

• ich rief, du riefst, wir riefen …
• ich half, du halfst, wir halfen …

5. Special case: sein in the past

sein is very frequent, so it is worth learning as a block.

Visual check:

• Singular: war – warst – war
• Plural: waren – wart – waren

If you see something like ich warte gestern müde, this is wrong: warte is from warten, not from sein. You must use war.

6. Typical mistakes and how to avoid them

• Adding -te like a regular verb
  Wrong: Der Krankenwagen kommte.
  Right: Der Krankenwagen kam.
• Mixing present and past forms
  Wrong: Gestern bin der Notarzt in meiner Wohnung.
  Right: Gestern war der Notarzt in meiner Wohnung.
• Double conjugation
  Wrong: Die Nachbarin half mir … ist.
  Right: Die Nachbarin half mir …
• Forgetting word order with separable verbs (rufen – anrufen)
  Wrong: Der Notarzt rief sofort die Polizei anruft.
  Right: Der Notarzt rief sofort die Polizei an.

7. Mini translation check (German ↔ English)

Use English to check quickly if your German tense is correct.

• war → “was / were” (simple past of to be)
• kam → “came” (not “comed”)
• rief → “called” (often “called … up” with anrufen)
• half → “helped”

If you would say “came / called / helped / was” in English, you probably need kam / rief / half / war in German.

8. Step-by-step self-check

1. Can you say the four past stems without looking?
   
   • sein → ?
   • kommen → ?
   • rufen → ?
   • helfen → ?

   Answer: war – kam – rief – half.

2. Can you build the “du” and “wir” forms?
   
   • du + kam- = ? (kamst)
   • wir + rief- = ? (riefen)
   • du + half- = ? (halfst)
   • wir + war- = ? (waren)
3. Can you correct these sentences in your head?
   
   • Letzte Woche kommte der Notarzt sehr spät.
   • Gestern bin ich sehr nervös.

   Check:

   • Letzte Woche kam der Notarzt sehr spät.
   • Gestern war ich sehr nervös.

9. What to focus on when you speak

• Listen for these four forms in texts and audio: war, kam, rief, half.
• When you talk about yesterday, last week, last year, ask yourself:
  • Do I need the past stem (war / kam / rief / half)?
  • Do I have the correct ending for ich / du / wir …?
• Accept that these verbs are irregular. Do not try to “repair” them with -te.

If you can use these four verbs confidently in the Präteritum, you already sound much more natural when you talk about past events in German.