Gewinnen in the Perfekt Tense in German

Introduction

Gewinnen means “to win”, and this page covers exactly one thing: gewinnen 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 gewinnen, 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 gewinnen in the Perfekt. For example: “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “I have won the game yesterday.” Everything on this page uses the forms of gewinnen exactly as they are conjugated in the Perfekt, so you can trust every form you see here.

Gewinnen in the Perfekt Tense — full table

Person Form
ich habe gewonnen
du hast gewonnen
er/sie/es hat gewonnen
wir haben gewonnen
ihr habt gewonnen
sie/Sie haben gewonnen

Partizip I: gewinnend · Partizip II: gewonnen

The present participle is gewinnend, which you use as an adjective. The past participle is gewonnen, which you use with haben in the perfect tenses: the ich form of the Perfekt is habe gewonnen, 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 gewinnen is used.

How the Perfekt of gewinnen is formed

The Perfekt of gewinnen is formed with the auxiliary haben in the present plus the past participle gewonnen: the auxiliary forms are ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the ich form is habe gewonnen and the sie form is haben gewonnen. The participle gewonnen 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 gewinnen takes haben as its auxiliary, the Perfekt is built the same way as for most German verbs: haben in the present, then gewonnen. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for haben, and then add gewonnen.

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

When to use the Perfekt of gewinnen

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

1. Winning the game — finished

When the action of winning the game is finished, the Perfekt is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “I have won the game yesterday.”

2. Winning a prize — finished

The same rule applies to winning a prize: once the action is done, the Perfekt reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Du hast einen Preis gewonnen gestern.” — “You have won a prize yesterday.”

3. Winning the championship — finished

A third everyday situation is winning the championship, and again the Perfekt is right when the action is finished. Example: “Er hat die Meisterschaft gewonnen gestern.” — “He has won the championship 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 haben das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “We have won the game 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 habt einen Preis gewonnen gestern.” — “You have won a prize 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 habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “I have won the game yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Ich gewann das Spiel gestern.” — “I won the game 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 hast einen Preis gewonnen gestern.” — “You have won a prize yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Du gewannst einen Preis gestern.” — “You won a prize 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 haben die Meisterschaft gewonnen gestern.” — “We have won the championship yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Wir gewannen die Meisterschaft gestern.” — “We won the championship 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: gewinnen 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 habe einen Preis gewonnen gestern.” — “I have won a prize yesterday.”

  2. “Du hast die Meisterschaft gewonnen gestern.” — “You have won the championship yesterday.”

  3. “Er hat das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “He has won the game yesterday.”

  4. “Wir haben einen Preis gewonnen gestern.” — “We have won a prize yesterday.”

  5. “Ihr habt die Meisterschaft gewonnen gestern.” — “You have won the championship yesterday.”

  6. “Sie haben das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “They have won the game yesterday.”

  7. “Ich habe einen Preis gewonnen gestern.” — “I have won a prize yesterday.”

  8. “Du hast die Meisterschaft gewonnen gestern.” — “You have won the championship yesterday.”

Common mistakes with gewinnen 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 gewinne das Spiel gestern.” Right: “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the Perfekt habe gewonnen, not the present gewinne. The time word gestern points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen jeden Tag.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Ich gewinne das Spiel jeden Tag.” Why: The Perfekt habe gewonnen describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present gewinne.

  • Wrong: “Ich das Spiel gewonnen.” — leaving out the auxiliary Right: “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen.” Why: The Perfekt needs both parts: the auxiliary haben and the participle gewonnen. The participle alone is not a complete Perfekt.

  • Wrong: “Ich gewann das Spiel gestern.” (in everyday speech) Right: “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” Why: The preterite gewann is mostly a written tense. In everyday speech, a finished action yesterday takes the Perfekt habe gewonnen.

Quiz: gewinnen 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 ______ einen Preis.”

  • (A) hast gewonnen
  • (B) hat gewonnen
  • (C) haben gewonnen
  • (D) habe gewonnen

2. Complete the sentence: “Du ______ die Meisterschaft.”

  • (A) habe gewonnen
  • (B) hat gewonnen
  • (C) haben gewonnen
  • (D) hast gewonnen

3. Complete the sentence: “Er ______ das Spiel.”

  • (A) hast gewonnen
  • (B) haben gewonnen
  • (C) hat gewonnen
  • (D) habe gewonnen

4. Complete the sentence: “Wir ______ einen Preis.”

  • (A) hat gewonnen
  • (B) haben gewonnen
  • (C) habe gewonnen
  • (D) hast gewonnen

5. Complete the sentence: “Ihr ______ die Meisterschaft.”

  • (A) habt gewonnen
  • (B) habe gewonnen
  • (C) hast gewonnen
  • (D) hat gewonnen

6. Complete the sentence: “Sie ______ das Spiel.”

  • (A) hat gewonnen
  • (B) haben gewonnen
  • (C) habe gewonnen
  • (D) hast gewonnen

7. What does gewinnen mean in English?

  • (A) to lose
  • (B) to begin
  • (C) to end
  • (D) to win

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

  • (A) verloren
  • (B) begonnen
  • (C) geendet
  • (D) gewonnen

Answer key

  1. D) habe gewonnen — The ich form is habe gewonnen.
  2. D) hast gewonnen — The du form is hast gewonnen.
  3. C) hat gewonnen — The er/sie/es form is hat gewonnen.
  4. B) haben gewonnen — The wir form is haben gewonnen.
  5. A) habt gewonnen — The ihr form is habt gewonnen.
  6. B) haben gewonnen — The sie/Sie form is haben gewonnen.
  7. D) to win — gewinnen means “to win”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
  8. D) gewonnen — The past participle of gewinnen is gewonnen; the Perfekt is formed with haben + gewonnen.

Frequently asked questions

How is the Perfekt of gewinnen formed?

With the auxiliary haben in the present plus the past participle gewonnen: ich habe gewonnen, du hast gewonnen, er hat gewonnen, wir haben gewonnen, ihr habt gewonnen, sie haben gewonnen.

When do I use the Perfekt of gewinnen?

Use the Perfekt for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German — for example, “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” — “I have won the game 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 gewinnen?

The Perfekt reports one finished action in everyday speech; the preterite reports a completed past action in writing and stories. Compare “Ich habe das Spiel gewonnen gestern.” with “Ich gewann das Spiel 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 gewinnen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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