Back to podcasts
BetaGermanA2 listeningAug 9, 2026

German A2.19 Listening Practice: Use Two Irregular Participles

Listen to a A2 German dialogue about use two irregular participles, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.

Podcast listening pages are in beta while chapter audio, transcripts, and discussion flows are still being completed.

Level

A2.19

Audio

Segmented audio

Transcript

28 segments

Listen firstBeta

A short German listening chapter with transcript.

Keep the perfect frame and replace the regular ending with two high-frequency participles learned as whole forms.

Transcript

Read while you listen.

1. Hanna · Teacher

Hello everyone! I'm Hanna, your German teacher. Today, we're practicing two essential irregular past participles: gesehen and gelesen.

Audio ready

2. Lukas · Student

Hi! I'm Lukas. I know the verbs sehen and lesen, but I always get confused when using them in the past tense with haben.

Audio ready

3. Hanna · Teacher

You will master them today! Let me introduce Felix and Clara, who will demonstrate how to use them in a daily conversation.

Audio ready

4. Clara · Native Speaker 2

Felix, hast du den neuen Text für den Deutschkurs gelesen?

Audio ready

5. Felix · Native Speaker 1

Ich habe ihn gesehen, aber ich habe den Text nicht gelesen.

Audio ready

6. Clara · Native Speaker 2

Warum hast du den Text nicht gelesen?

Audio ready

7. Felix · Native Speaker 1

Ich hatte gestern keine Zeit, aber hast du die Nachricht von Maria gesehen?

Audio ready

8. Clara · Native Speaker 2

Ja, ich habe sie gesehen!

Audio ready

9. Hanna · Teacher

Let's analyze what Felix and Clara said. First, Clara asked: Felix, hast du den neuen Text für den Deutschkurs gelesen?

Audio ready

10. Hanna · Teacher

She is asking if Felix read the new text. The verb lesen becomes gelesen in the Perfekt tense, and der Text changes to den Text as an accusative object.

Audio ready

11. Lukas · Student

Why does der Text turn into den Text?

Audio ready

12. Hanna · Teacher

Because masculine nouns like der Text change their article to den when they are the direct object of verbs like lesen or sehen.

Audio ready

13. Hanna · Teacher

Next, Felix replied: Ich habe ihn gesehen, aber ich habe den Text nicht gelesen.

Audio ready

14. Hanna · Teacher

Here Felix uses gesehen from sehen, and gelesen from lesen. He replaces den Text with the accusative pronoun ihn in the first half.

Audio ready

15. Lukas · Student

So ihn stands for 'it' when referring back to a masculine noun?

Audio ready

16. Hanna · Teacher

Exactly! Since der Text is masculine, its direct object pronoun is ihn.

Audio ready

17. Hanna · Teacher

Then Clara asked: Warum hast du den Text nicht gelesen?

Audio ready

18. Hanna · Teacher

Notice how hast stays near the front while the participle gelesen sits at the very end of the sentence.

Audio ready

19. Lukas · Student

Is that structure what people call the verb bracket?

Audio ready

20. Hanna · Teacher

Yes! The auxiliary verb haben and the participle gelesen form a bracket that holds the rest of the information.

Audio ready

21. Hanna · Teacher

After that, Felix said: Ich hatte gestern keine Zeit, aber hast du die Nachricht von Maria gesehen?

Audio ready

22. Hanna · Teacher

Felix asks if Clara saw Maria's message, using the participle gesehen from the verb sehen.

Audio ready

23. Lukas · Student

Why didn't die Nachricht change its article like der Text did?

Audio ready

24. Hanna · Teacher

Feminine nouns keep die in the accusative case; only masculine nouns change from der to den.

Audio ready

25. Hanna · Teacher

Finally, Clara answered: Ja, ich habe sie gesehen!

Audio ready

26. Hanna · Teacher

She confirms she saw it, using sie to replace the feminine noun die Nachricht.

Audio ready

27. Lukas · Student

So both gesehen and gelesen keep an -en ending instead of taking a -t?

Audio ready

28. Hanna · Teacher

That's right! They are irregular forms ending in -en. Keep practicing them, and see you next time!

Audio ready