Springen in the Perfekt Tense in German

Introduction

Springen means “to jump”, and this page covers exactly one thing: springen 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 springen, 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 springen in the Perfekt. For example: “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “I have jumped over the fence yesterday.” Everything on this page uses the forms of springen exactly as they are conjugated in the Perfekt, so you can trust every form you see here.

Springen in the Perfekt Tense — full table

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

Partizip I: springend · Partizip II: gesprungen

The present participle is springend, which you use as an adjective. The past participle is gesprungen, which you use with sein in the perfect tenses: the ich form of the Perfekt is bin gesprungen, 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 springen is used.

How the Perfekt of springen is formed

The Perfekt of springen is formed with the auxiliary sein in the present plus the past participle gesprungen: 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 gesprungen and the sie form is sind gesprungen. The participle gesprungen 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 springen 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 gesprungen.

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

When to use the Perfekt of springen

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

1. Jumping over the fence — finished

When the action of jumping over the fence is finished, the Perfekt is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “I have jumped over the fence yesterday.”

2. Jumping into the water — finished

The same rule applies to jumping into the water: once the action is done, the Perfekt reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Du bist ins Wasser gesprungen gestern.” — “You have jumped into the water yesterday.”

3. Jumping high into the air — finished

A third everyday situation is jumping high into the air, and again the Perfekt is right when the action is finished. Example: “Er ist hoch in die Luft gesprungen gestern.” — “He has jumped high into the air 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 über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “We have jumped over the fence 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 ins Wasser gesprungen gestern.” — “You have jumped into the water 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 über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “I have jumped over the fence yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Ich sprang über den Zaun gestern.” — “I jumped over the fence 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 ins Wasser gesprungen gestern.” — “You have jumped into the water yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Du sprangst ins Wasser gestern.” — “You jumped into the water 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 hoch in die Luft gesprungen gestern.” — “We have jumped high into the air yesterday.”

  • Preterite (Präteritum): “Wir sprangen hoch in die Luft gestern.” — “We jumped high into the air 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: springen 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 ins Wasser gesprungen gestern.” — “I have jumped into the water yesterday.”

  2. “Du bist hoch in die Luft gesprungen gestern.” — “You have jumped high into the air yesterday.”

  3. “Er ist über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “He has jumped over the fence yesterday.”

  4. “Wir sind ins Wasser gesprungen gestern.” — “We have jumped into the water yesterday.”

  5. “Ihr seid hoch in die Luft gesprungen gestern.” — “You have jumped high into the air yesterday.”

  6. “Sie sind über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “They have jumped over the fence yesterday.”

  7. “Ich bin ins Wasser gesprungen gestern.” — “I have jumped into the water yesterday.”

  8. “Du bist hoch in die Luft gesprungen gestern.” — “You have jumped high into the air yesterday.”

Common mistakes with springen 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 springe über den Zaun gestern.” Right: “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the Perfekt bin gesprungen, not the present springe. The time word gestern points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen jeden Tag.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Ich springe über den Zaun jeden Tag.” Why: The Perfekt bin gesprungen describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present springe.

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

  • Wrong: “Ich sprang über den Zaun gestern.” (in everyday speech) Right: “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” Why: The preterite sprang is mostly a written tense. In everyday speech, a finished action yesterday takes the Perfekt bin gesprungen.

Quiz: springen 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 ______ ins Wasser.”

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

2. Complete the sentence: “Du ______ hoch in die Luft.”

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

3. Complete the sentence: “Er ______ über den Zaun.”

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

4. Complete the sentence: “Wir ______ ins Wasser.”

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

5. Complete the sentence: “Ihr ______ hoch in die Luft.”

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

6. Complete the sentence: “Sie ______ über den Zaun.”

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

7. What does springen mean in English?

  • (A) to dance
  • (B) to jump
  • (C) to swim
  • (D) to fly

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

  • (A) geflogen
  • (B) getanzt
  • (C) gesprungen
  • (D) geschwommen

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

How is the Perfekt of springen formed?

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

When do I use the Perfekt of springen?

Use the Perfekt for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German — for example, “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” — “I have jumped over the fence 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 springen?

The Perfekt reports one finished action in everyday speech; the preterite reports a completed past action in writing and stories. Compare “Ich bin über den Zaun gesprungen gestern.” with “Ich sprang über den Zaun 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 springen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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