In order to form the present perfect in German, you will need to use a helping verb (Hilfsverb) and a past

participle (Partizip II). These components are also used to form the present perfect in English but the placement in different.

Look at this sentence in English. Past Participle I have played Soccer. Helping Verb

Compare the English Example with its German Counterpart.

Past Participle I have played Soccer. Helping Verb Partizip II

Ich habe Fussball gespielt.

Hilfsverb
In German the Past Participle is placed at the end of the sentence.

Forming the past participle of a German Verb can be complicated. But lets review some rules for doing so for Regular Verbs. (It is best to memorize the past participle for Irregular verbs)

Spielen to play
1st remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb this gives you the stem of the verb.

spiel
2nd add a ge to the front of the stem

gespiel
3rd add a t to the end of the stem

gespielt

The great majority of regular verbs follow this pattern

If the verb ends in ierenthen you must form the past participle differently.

studieren to study
1st remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb this gives you the stem of the verb.

studier
2nd you do not add a ge to the front but you do add a t to the stem.

studiert

If the verb contains a separable prefix, such as an, auf, zu, mit, aus, bei, hin, nach, vor, zurck, fort or ein, then you must form the past participle differently as well.

aufmachen
1st remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb this gives you the stem of the verb.

aufmach
2nd then add a t on the end of the stem

aufmacht
3rd place the ge between the prefix and the rest of the verb.

aufgemacht

If the verb contains an inseparable prefix, such as be, ent, er, ver, zer or emp, then you must form the past participle differently as well.

bezahlen to pay
1st remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb this gives you the stem of the verb.

bezahl
2nd then add a t on the end of the stem. You do not add a ge.

bezahlt

If the verb ends in nen, ten or den, then you must also form the past participle differently.

arbeiten to work
1st remove the en from the infinitive form of the verb this gives you the stem of the verb.

arbeit
2nd then add an et to the end of the stem.

arbeitet
2nd then add a ge to the front of the stem.

gearbeitet

Sometimes verbs may contain a combination of these rules.

mitarbeiten to work with

mitgearbeitet entwerten to take away value

entwertet