To talk about the past in speech, use a helper verb in second position plus a past participle pushed to the very end of the sentence. Most verbs take haben, but verbs of movement or of changing state (gehen, fahren, kommen, bleiben, sein) take sein instead.
Examples
- Ich habe gestern einen Film gesehen.
- I watched a film yesterday.
- Ich bin am Freitag ins Kino gegangen.
- I went to the cinema on Friday.
- Hast du schon gegessen?
- Have you eaten already?
- Wir sind zu Hause geblieben.
- We stayed at home.
The mistake to avoid
Leaving the participle next to the helper verb - it must go last: "Ich habe eine E-Mail geschrieben", not "Ich habe geschrieben eine E-Mail".
Where this fits in
Talking about the past, German A2: Tell stories about yesterday, last weekend, and life experiences using the Perfekt tense.