Frequently Asked German Questions

'Haben' or 'Sein' with the Verb 'Gehen' in German Past Tense?

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For example, the sentence "Meine Schwester ist zum Supermarkt gegangen."

'Gehen' indicates movement, so 'sein' is often used as the auxiliary verb in its past tense. Therefore, 'Meine Schwester ist zum Supermarkt gegangen' ('My sister went to the supermarket') is the appropriate sentence. While 'haben' is used with most past tense verbs in German, 'sein' is used with certain intransitive verbs that indicate a change of location or state, like 'gehen'. It's these nuances that can help make your German more fluent and accurate.

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