The present perfect is generally used in spoken language to express something that happened in the past. The preterite tense is used the same way, but mainly in written texts such as stories, fairy tales, newspapers, books and literature in general.
Perfekt mitĀ habenĀ (-t ending)
habenĀ +Ā Ā Ā geĀ +Ā main part of the verbĀ +Ā Ā t
Infinitiv | lernen | leben | wollen | kritisieren |
PrƤsens | Ich lerne | Du lebst | Er will | Ihr kritisiert |
Perfekt | Ich habe gelernt | Du hast gelebt | Er hat gewollt | Ihr habt kritisiert |
Example: Ich habe zwei Jahre in BerlinĀ gelebt. Ich habe letztes Jahr SpanischĀ gelernt.
I lived in Berlin for two years. I learned Spanish last year.
(literally:Ā I have lived in Berlin for two years. I have learned Spanish last year.)