German Präteritum Made Easy | war, hatte & Modal Verbs (A1–A2)

Learn the most useful German Präteritum forms for everyday past situations. This English-language A1–A2 lesson teaches sein → war, haben → hatte, and common past modal verbs such as konnte, musste, wollte, durfte, and sollte. You will also practise subject endings, the infinitive-at-the-end pattern, negatives, questions, and common mistakes. Practice: Write one sentence about what you could, had to, or wanted to do yesterday. Chapters 0:00 Three Short Past Sentences 0:53 Why Use Präteritum Here? 1:47 SEIN Becomes WAR 2:42 HABEN Becomes HATTE 3:30 The Past Modal Pattern 4:26 The Modal Sentence Bracket 5:18 KONNTE and MUSSTE 6:00 WOLLTE, DURFTE, SOLLTE 6:50 A Sick Week in Präteritum 7:40 Negatives and Questions 8:33 Build Four Past Sentences 9:27 Repair Common Mistakes 10:15 Tell Your Past-Day Story Next lesson: Perfekt or Präteritum? How to choose naturally in past-tense stories. #LearnGerman #GermanGrammar #GermanA1