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German does not have this feature! In German, there is no difference in meaning between "Ich spielte Tennis" and "Ich habe Tennis gespielt". (The difference is
by indigo945 2y ago
German does not have this feature! In German, there is no difference in meaning between "Ich spielte Tennis" and "Ich habe Tennis gespielt". (The difference is in register, "Ich spielte Tennis" is more formal.)
In English, in contrast, there is a clear difference in usage between, say, "I was playing tennis while my kids were in school", and "I have played tennis while my kids were in school".
- fch42 2y agoI defer to you for that, simply because I'm a native speaker of German and "only" long-term fluid in English. I don't entirely grasp the difference between the two - other than "phrasing" (and on that level it exists in both), and would be likely to use them interchangeably. In both German and English.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- fch42 2y ago(forgot to say, German would know "Ich war Tennis spielen ..." as much as "Ich habe Tennis gespielt ..."; the first one would be considered imperfect passive, and yes I would agree perfect passive, "Ich bin Tennis spielen gewesen ..." would be unusual to say. The english form, "I have been playing tennis ..." is common though. As is "I have played tennis", and yes I'd agree the two aren't interchangeable)