Ankommen in the Perfekt Tense in German

Introduction

Ankommen means “to arrive”, and this page covers exactly one thing: ankommen in the Perfekt. The Perfekt is the tense German speakers reach for in everyday speech when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago. On this page you will find the full Perfekt table for ankommen, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the preterite, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about ankommen in the Perfekt. For example: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.” Everything on this page uses the forms of ankommen exactly as they are conjugated in the Perfekt, so you can trust every form you see here.

Ankommen in the Perfekt Tense — full table

Person Form
ich bin angekommen
du bist angekommen
er/sie/es ist angekommen
wir sind angekommen
ihr seid angekommen
sie/Sie sind angekommen

Partizip I: ankommend · Partizip II: angekommen

The present participle is ankommend, which you use as an adjective. The past participle is angekommen, which you use with sein in the perfect tenses: the ich form of the Perfekt is bin angekommen, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the Perfekt is only one part of how ankommen is used.

How the Perfekt of ankommen is formed

The Perfekt of ankommen is formed with the auxiliary sein in the present plus the past participle angekommen: the auxiliary forms are ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie/Sie sind. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the ich form is bin angekommen and the sie form is sind angekommen. The participle angekommen never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in the uninflected form throughout, and agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence.

Because ankommen takes sein as its auxiliary, it belongs to the group of verbs of movement and change of state that form their perfect tenses with sein. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for sein, not haben, and then add angekommen.

The same participle angekommen appears in the pluperfect, the future perfect and the conditional perfect — only the auxiliary changes tense. Learn the pair “sein + angekommen” once and you have the key to all four perfect tenses of ankommen.

When to use the Perfekt of ankommen

The Perfekt is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use ankommen in the Perfekt most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. Arriving at nine o'clock in Berlin — finished

When the action of arriving at nine o'clock in Berlin is finished, the Perfekt is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

2. Arriving on time at the station — finished

The same rule applies to arriving on time at the station: once the action is done, the Perfekt reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Du bist pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “You have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

3. Arriving at home in the evening — finished

A third everyday situation is arriving at home in the evening, and again the Perfekt is right when the action is finished. Example: “Er ist am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “He has arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”

4. A sequence of completed actions

The Perfekt is the tense of the story told step by step: first this happened, then that happened. When you tell someone what you did yesterday, you chain Perfekt forms together, one per finished action. Example: “Wir sind um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “We have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

5. Recent past and life experience

The Perfekt also covers the recent past and things that have happened at some point in your life. With time words such as gestern, letzte Woche or heute Morgen, the Perfekt is the natural choice. Example: “Ihr seid pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “You have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

Perfekt vs Preterite: how to choose

The closest tense to the Perfekt is the preterite, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the preterite describes a completed past action, mostly in writing and stories, while the Perfekt describes one finished action in everyday speech. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the Perfekt sentences use words such as jeden Tag or gestern, while the preterite sentences belong to a story told in the past. Those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

  • Perfekt: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Ich kam um neun Uhr in Berlin an gestern.” — “I arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

  • The Perfekt sentence is about the present moment or one finished action in speech; the preterite sentence is about the past as it is told in writing. That difference — now or finished in speech versus told in a story — is the whole decision.

  • Perfekt: “Du bist pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “You have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Du kamst pünktlich am Bahnhof an gestern.” — “You arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

  • The Perfekt sentence is about the present moment or one finished action in speech; the preterite sentence is about the past as it is told in writing. That difference — now or finished in speech versus told in a story — is the whole decision.

  • Perfekt: “Wir sind am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “We have arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Wir kamen am Abend zu Hause an gestern.” — “We arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”

  • The Perfekt sentence is about the present moment or one finished action in speech; the preterite sentence is about the past as it is told in writing. That difference — now or finished in speech versus told in a story — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: ankommen in the Perfekt

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions, the objects, the other words — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Ich bin pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

  2. “Du bist am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “You have arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”

  3. “Er ist um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “He has arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

  4. “Wir sind pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “We have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

  5. “Ihr seid am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “You have arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”

  6. “Sie sind um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “They have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.”

  7. “Ich bin pünktlich am Bahnhof angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived on time at the station yesterday.”

  8. “Du bist am Abend zu Hause angekommen gestern.” — “You have arrived at home in the evening yesterday.”

Common mistakes with ankommen in the Perfekt

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Ich komme an um neun Uhr in Berlin gestern.” Right: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the Perfekt bin angekommen, not the present komme an. The time word gestern points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen jeden Tag.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Ich komme an um neun Uhr in Berlin jeden Tag.” Why: The Perfekt bin angekommen describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present komme an.

  • Wrong: “Ich um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen.” — leaving out the auxiliary Right: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen.” Why: The Perfekt needs both parts: the auxiliary sein and the participle angekommen. The participle alone is not a complete Perfekt.

  • Wrong: “Ich kam an um neun Uhr in Berlin gestern.” (in everyday speech) Right: “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” Why: The preterite kam an is mostly a written tense. In everyday speech, a finished action yesterday takes the Perfekt bin angekommen.

Quiz: ankommen in the Perfekt

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

1. Complete the sentence: “Ich ______ pünktlich am Bahnhof.”

  • (A) sind angekommen
  • (B) bin angekommen
  • (C) bist angekommen
  • (D) ist angekommen

2. Complete the sentence: “Du ______ am Abend zu Hause.”

  • (A) bist angekommen
  • (B) bin angekommen
  • (C) ist angekommen
  • (D) sind angekommen

3. Complete the sentence: “Er ______ um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

  • (A) bist angekommen
  • (B) sind angekommen
  • (C) ist angekommen
  • (D) bin angekommen

4. Complete the sentence: “Wir ______ pünktlich am Bahnhof.”

  • (A) sind angekommen
  • (B) bin angekommen
  • (C) bist angekommen
  • (D) ist angekommen

5. Complete the sentence: “Ihr ______ am Abend zu Hause.”

  • (A) ist angekommen
  • (B) seid angekommen
  • (C) bin angekommen
  • (D) bist angekommen

6. Complete the sentence: “Sie ______ um neun Uhr in Berlin.”

  • (A) sind angekommen
  • (B) bin angekommen
  • (C) bist angekommen
  • (D) ist angekommen

7. What does ankommen mean in English?

  • (A) to arrive
  • (B) to depart
  • (C) to get in
  • (D) to get out

8. What is the past participle (Partizip II) of ankommen?

  • (A) eingestiegen
  • (B) ausgestiegen
  • (C) angekommen
  • (D) abgefahren

Answer key

  1. B) bin angekommen — The ich form is bin angekommen.
  2. A) bist angekommen — The du form is bist angekommen.
  3. C) ist angekommen — The er/sie/es form is ist angekommen.
  4. A) sind angekommen — The wir form is sind angekommen.
  5. B) seid angekommen — The ihr form is seid angekommen.
  6. A) sind angekommen — The sie/Sie form is sind angekommen.
  7. A) to arrive — ankommen means “to arrive”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
  8. C) angekommen — The past participle of ankommen is angekommen; the Perfekt is formed with sein + angekommen.

Frequently asked questions

How is the Perfekt of ankommen formed?

With the auxiliary sein in the present plus the past participle angekommen: ich bin angekommen, du bist angekommen, er ist angekommen, wir sind angekommen, ihr seid angekommen, sie sind angekommen.

When do I use the Perfekt of ankommen?

Use the Perfekt for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German — for example, “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” — “I have arrived at nine o'clock in Berlin yesterday.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the preterite in writing instead.

What is the difference between the Perfekt and the preterite of ankommen?

The Perfekt reports one finished action in everyday speech; the preterite reports a completed past action in writing and stories. Compare “Ich bin um neun Uhr in Berlin angekommen gestern.” with “Ich kam um neun Uhr in Berlin an gestern.” — the first is spoken, the second is written.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for ankommen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Related pages