Kennen in the Perfekt Tense in German

Introduction

Kennen means “to know”, and this page covers exactly one thing: kennen in the Perfekt. The Perfekt is the tense German speakers reach for when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago — especially in spoken German. On this page you will find the full Perfekt table for kennen, 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 kennen in the Perfekt. For example: “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “I have known Marie for a long time.” Everything on this page uses the forms of kennen exactly as they are conjugated in the Perfekt, so you can trust every form you see here.

Kennen in the Perfekt Tense — full table

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

Present participle: kennend · Past participle: gekannt

The present participle is kennend, which you use as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle is gekannt, which you use with haben in the perfect tenses: the ich form of the Perfekt is habe gekannt, 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 kennen is used.

How the Perfekt of kennen is formed

The Perfekt of kennen is formed with the auxiliary haben in the present plus the past participle gekannt: 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 gekannt and the sie form is haben gekannt. In a main clause the participle gekannt goes to the end of the clause, after the complement, exactly as the example sentences on this page show. The participle never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in one fixed form throughout, and the auxiliary is the part that changes for person.

Because kennen takes haben as its auxiliary, the Perfekt is built the same way as for most German verbs: haben in the present, then gekannt. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for haben, and then add gekannt.

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

When to use the Perfekt of kennen

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

1. To know Marie for a long time — finished

When the action is over — Marie for a long time — the Perfekt is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “I have known Marie for a long time.”

2. To know Berlin very well — finished

The same rule applies to Berlin very well: once the action is done, the Perfekt reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Du hast Berlin sehr gut gekannt.” — “You have known Berlin very well.”

3. To know a good restaurant here — finished

A third everyday situation is a good restaurant here, and again the Perfekt is right when the action is finished. Example: “Er hat ein gutes Restaurant hier gekannt.” — “He has known a good restaurant here.”

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 Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “We have known Marie for a long time.”

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 Berlin sehr gut gekannt.” — “You have known Berlin very well.”

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 finished action in the past 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 register — and with it, the tense. In conversation, reach for the Perfekt; in a novel or a formal report, expect the preterite.

  • Perfekt: “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “I have known Marie for a long time.”

  • Preterite: “Ich kannte Marie seit Langem.” — “I knew Marie for a long time.”

  • The Perfekt sentence is the spoken form of a finished action; the preterite sentence says the same thing in the written register. That difference — speech versus writing — is the whole decision.

  • Perfekt: “Du hast Berlin sehr gut gekannt.” — “You have known Berlin very well.”

  • Preterite: “Du kanntest Berlin sehr gut.” — “You knew Berlin very well.”

  • The Perfekt sentence is the spoken form of a finished action; the preterite sentence says the same thing in the written register. That difference — speech versus writing — is the whole decision.

  • Perfekt: “Wir haben ein gutes Restaurant hier gekannt.” — “We have known a good restaurant here.”

  • Preterite: “Wir kannten ein gutes Restaurant hier.” — “We knew a good restaurant here.”

  • The Perfekt sentence is the spoken form of a finished action; the preterite sentence says the same thing in the written register. That difference — speech versus writing — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: kennen 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 Berlin sehr gut gekannt.” — “I have known Berlin very well.”

  2. “Du hast ein gutes Restaurant hier gekannt.” — “You have known a good restaurant here.”

  3. “Er hat Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “He has known Marie for a long time.”

  4. “Wir haben Berlin sehr gut gekannt.” — “We have known Berlin very well.”

  5. “Ihr habt ein gutes Restaurant hier gekannt.” — “You have known a good restaurant here.”

  6. “Sie haben Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “They have known Marie for a long time.”

  7. “Ich habe Berlin sehr gut gekannt.” — “I have known Berlin very well.”

  8. “Du hast ein gutes Restaurant hier gekannt.” — “You have known a good restaurant here.”

Common mistakes with kennen 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 kenne Marie seit Langem gestern.” Right: “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the Perfekt habe gekannt, not the present kenne. The time word gestern points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” (said of something you do every day) Right: “Ich kenne Marie seit Langem.” Why: The Perfekt habe gekannt describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present kenne.

  • Wrong: “Ich bin Marie seit Langem gekannt.” Right: “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” Why: The Perfekt of kennen takes the auxiliary haben, not sein: the full ich form is habe gekannt.

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

Quiz: kennen 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. What is the ich form of kennen in the Perfekt?

    • A) habe gekannt
    • B) hast gekannt
    • C) hat gekannt
    • D) haben gekannt

  2. What is the du form of kennen in the Perfekt?

    • A) hast gekannt
    • B) habe gekannt
    • C) hat gekannt
    • D) haben gekannt

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of kennen in the Perfekt?

    • A) habe gekannt
    • B) hast gekannt
    • C) haben gekannt
    • D) hat gekannt

  4. What is the wir form of kennen in the Perfekt?

    • A) hast gekannt
    • B) hat gekannt
    • C) haben gekannt
    • D) habe gekannt

  5. What is the ihr form of kennen in the Perfekt?

    • A) hat gekannt
    • B) habt gekannt
    • C) habe gekannt
    • D) hast gekannt

  6. What is the sie/Sie form of kennen in the Perfekt?

    • A) hast gekannt
    • B) hat gekannt
    • C) haben gekannt
    • D) habe gekannt

7. What does kennen mean in English?

  • A) to hate
  • B) to need
  • C) to know
  • D) to love

8. What is the past participle of kennen?

  • A) gekannt
  • B) geliebt
  • C) gehasst
  • D) gebraucht

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

How is the Perfekt of kennen formed?

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

When do I use the Perfekt of kennen?

Use the Perfekt for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German — for example, “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” — “I have known Marie for a long time.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the preterite in writing instead.

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

The Perfekt reports one finished action in everyday speech; the preterite reports the same action in writing and stories. Compare “Ich habe Marie seit Langem gekannt.” with “Ich kannte Marie seit Langem.” — the first is spoken, the second is written.

Pronunciation

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

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