Kommen in the Perfekt Tense in German

Introduction

Kommen means “to come”, and this page covers exactly one thing: kommen 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 kommen, 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 kommen in the Perfekt. For example: “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” — “I have come from Berlin.” Everything on this page uses the forms of kommen exactly as they are conjugated in the Perfekt, so you can trust every form you see here.

Kommen in the Perfekt Tense — full table

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

Present participle: kommend · Past participle: gekommen

The present participle is kommend, which you use as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle is gekommen, which you use with sein in the perfect tenses: the ich form of the Perfekt is bin gekommen, 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 kommen is used.

How the Perfekt of kommen is formed

The Perfekt of kommen is formed with the auxiliary sein in the present plus the past participle gekommen: 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 gekommen and the sie form is sind gekommen. In a main clause the participle gekommen 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 kommen 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 gekommen.

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

When to use the Perfekt of kommen

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

1. To come from Berlin — finished

When the action is over — from Berlin — the Perfekt is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” — “I have come from Berlin.”

2. To come tomorrow morning — finished

The same rule applies to tomorrow morning: once the action is done, the Perfekt reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Du bist morgen früh gekommen.” — “You have come tomorrow morning.”

3. To come with us this evening — finished

A third everyday situation is with us this evening, and again the Perfekt is right when the action is finished. Example: “Er ist heute Abend mit uns gekommen.” — “He has come with us this evening.”

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 aus Berlin gekommen.” — “We have come from Berlin.”

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 morgen früh gekommen.” — “You have come tomorrow morning.”

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 bin aus Berlin gekommen.” — “I have come from Berlin.”

  • Preterite: “Ich kam aus Berlin.” — “I came from Berlin.”

  • 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 bist morgen früh gekommen.” — “You have come tomorrow morning.”

  • Preterite: “Du kamst morgen früh.” — “You came tomorrow morning.”

  • 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 sind heute Abend mit uns gekommen.” — “We have come with us this evening.”

  • Preterite: “Wir kamen heute Abend mit uns.” — “We came with us this evening.”

  • 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: kommen 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 morgen früh gekommen.” — “I have come tomorrow morning.”

  2. “Du bist heute Abend mit uns gekommen.” — “You have come with us this evening.”

  3. “Er ist aus Berlin gekommen.” — “He has come from Berlin.”

  4. “Wir sind morgen früh gekommen.” — “We have come tomorrow morning.”

  5. “Ihr seid heute Abend mit uns gekommen.” — “You have come with us this evening.”

  6. “Sie sind aus Berlin gekommen.” — “They have come from Berlin.”

  7. “Ich bin morgen früh gekommen.” — “I have come tomorrow morning.”

  8. “Du bist heute Abend mit uns gekommen.” — “You have come with us this evening.”

Common mistakes with kommen 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 aus Berlin gestern.” Right: “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the Perfekt bin gekommen, not the present komme. The time word gestern points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” (said of something you do every day) Right: “Ich komme aus Berlin.” Why: The Perfekt bin gekommen describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present komme.

  • Wrong: “Ich habe aus Berlin gekommen.” Right: “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” Why: The Perfekt of kommen takes the auxiliary sein, not haben: the full ich form is bin gekommen.

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

Quiz: kommen 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 kommen in the Perfekt?

    • A) bin gekommen
    • B) bist gekommen
    • C) ist gekommen
    • D) sind gekommen

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

    • A) bin gekommen
    • B) ist gekommen
    • C) sind gekommen
    • D) bist gekommen

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

    • A) sind gekommen
    • B) ist gekommen
    • C) bin gekommen
    • D) bist gekommen

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

    • A) bin gekommen
    • B) bist gekommen
    • C) ist gekommen
    • D) sind gekommen

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

    • A) seid gekommen
    • B) bin gekommen
    • C) bist gekommen
    • D) ist gekommen

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

    • A) bin gekommen
    • B) bist gekommen
    • C) ist gekommen
    • D) sind gekommen

7. What does kommen mean in English?

  • A) to give
  • B) to come
  • C) to say
  • D) to make, to do

8. What is the past participle of kommen?

  • A) gegeben
  • B) gekommen
  • C) gesagt
  • D) gemacht

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

How is the Perfekt of kommen formed?

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

When do I use the Perfekt of kommen?

Use the Perfekt for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German — for example, “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” — “I have come from Berlin.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the preterite in writing instead.

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

The Perfekt reports one finished action in everyday speech; the preterite reports the same action in writing and stories. Compare “Ich bin aus Berlin gekommen.” with “Ich kam aus Berlin.” — the first is spoken, the second is written.

Pronunciation

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

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