The different types of past tense - Germany

Hi there,

I've got another translation problem: "Were you at the movies yesterday?" and "Did you go to the movies yesterday?" and "Have you been to the movies (yesterday)?. I'm German but I don't know where the difference is. My American friend said "Were you at the movies? should be translated as "Warst Du gestern im Kino?" and "Did you go to the movies yesterday?" as "Bist Du gestern im Kino gewesen?". But then, I don''t know how I could translate "Have you been to the movies (yesterday)?

Sorry, I' m really confused:-(

Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you and hopefully, someone can explain the difference to me.

There's no such thing as "Have you been to the movies (yesterday)?". If the specific time (yesterday) is mentioned, it takes the past simple: "Were you at the movies yesterday?".

Here's a good primer I found.

Hey Jeff,

thank you very much for your quick reply:-)! I got it that "Have you ... and yesterday" is false. Thanks!!!
But where is the actual difference between "Were you at the movies yesterday?" and "Did you go to the movies yesterday"? I thought both is simple past. Is one British and one American English?

Any idea?

Thanks again and if you need help with German, ask me:-)

Mary

Two different questions:
ob Du da warst, oder ob Du dahin gegangen bist...?

(oh, and I would say cinema, and NOT movies!)

Looking at the question: I found it strange that someone would ask, because, really, both impart the same information. Then I realised; in German you would "normally" say :"Warst du gestern im Kino?" Whereas in English you would "normally" say "Did you go to the cinema yesterday?" (I am not 100% sure if I am correct. I will stand/sit corrected if anyone does ... hahaha)

@ R100, Are you from the Isles? I didn't realise.

From a British perspective...

"Were you at the cinema?" would probably be said for an exact time. For example, "I tried to call yesterday but you were out. Were you at the cinema?"

"Did you go to the cinema?" would probably need a date or time, which would be more vague. For example, "Did you go to the cinema yesterday, as planned?

And, to echo what JeffZ rightly said, you can't use "Have you been to the cinema" with a time point such as "yesterday", "last week" or "an hour ago".

Hope that helps... bitteschön.

As an American I can say both would be understood.

I myself would say, did you go to the movies yesterday?

That is what is most commonly said where I am from.

Yes, one can go to the movies and to the cinema and still be understood by most English-speaking people.
And yes, I´m an island child!
(well, I used to be - can´t really say "island granny", can you?!)

Didn`t you was as the the pictures yesterday innit?

I think your premise is wrong. Because English people have ways of saying things, that does not mean that you can do a 1:1 map to another language. It doesn't matter how you "translate", it's more important to formulate it in the right way for the langauge you are using.

English - your two questions are both in simple past but use completely different verbs and thus have different structures. "Were you at the cinema yesterday?" = simple past question using the verb "to be". "Did you go to the cinema yesterday?" = simple past question using the verb "to go" and thus needing the help verb "to do" in order to form a question. Speaking English, I'd use the second because that's the normal English. "were" usually translates German, is not formulating English.

German - same verb for both questions (sein = "to be") but two different past tenses. "Bist Du gestern im Kino gewesen?" = vergangenheit (mainly used in speaking).
Warst Du gestern im Kino?" = präteritum (usually used for writing, but also speaking for common verbs such as sein, haben, modals). Speaking German, I'd use the second, that's the norm. Doesn't matter what the English is.

As Orla says, Germans also often use "sein" where EL speakers use "go". That's why a lot will say in English: "I was at the cinema last night" rather than "I went to the cinema".

From a Canadian perspective...

"Were you at the movies?" would probably be said for an exact time.
For example, "Hey there, I called ya yesterday but you were out. You went and saw that flick eh?"

"Did you go to the movies?" would probably need a date or time, which would be more vague.
For example, "Did you go see that flick yesterday, like you said you were gonna?

I hope this helps eh?

As others pointed out, "Have you been to the movies (yesterday)?" is incorrect. "Have you been..." is used when the time frame is open.

Have you been to the movies recently?
Have you been to the movies during your stay in Germany?

How would that be translated to German?

Hello everybody and thanks a lot for the interesting discussion!!!:-)
It has helped a lot! I was wondering how I should explain the difference to my students... so thank your all for your help!
I thought, there is a slight difference, but then I had something like "ein Brett vorm Kopf" if you know what I mean:( ;-) Oder sagen wir einfach keine Ahnung;-)

Danke and have a nice weekend!

1. Have you been to the movies recently?
2. Have you been to the movies during your stay in Germany?

How would that be translated to German?

I would say:

1. Bist Du kürzlich im Kino gewesen?
2. Bist Du während deines Aufenthalts in Deutschland im Kino gewesen?

That's what I think:-)

But you would usually say (spoken German):
1. Bist Du mal wieder im Kino gewesen? ODER: Warst Du mal wieder im Kino? ODER: Warst Du kürzlich mal wieder im Kino?
2. Warst Du im Kino, als Du in Deutschland warst? ODER: Warst Du in Deutschland im Kino?

:-)

There´s no difference in German between the Präteritum (simple past) and the Perfekt (present perfect). In south Germany people almost exclusivly use the Perfekt.

"Ich bin gestern im Kino gewesen" = "Ich war gestern im Kino"

The same phenomenon you see when it comes to future tenses where we can also use the Präsens (present)

"Ich werde morgen ins Kino gehen" (future tense) = "Ich gehe morgen ins Kino" (present tense)

So German has strictly speaking just 2 tenses: past and non-past