1. "het en "ge-":
Replace your first verb in the sentence with "het" and take that verb to the end of your sentence:
Johan skop die bal > Johan het die bal geskop
San-Mari kam haar hare > San-Mari het haar hare gekam
Exceptions:
• If the verb you are replacing has a prefix (such as "be-; ver-; her-; ont-; mis-" etc.), don't add "ge-":
Ek onthou nou > Ek het toe onthou
Die koei herkou die gras > Die koei het die gras herkou
• If the verb changes in the past, use rule 2.
• If the verb you are replacing is "het", use rule 3.
2. Changing verbs:
Before you change the verb make sure it doesn't change in past tense. Ex.:
Hy sal môre kom > Hy sou gister kom
Die kos is koud > Die kos was koud
kan- kon
moet- moes
wil- wou
3. "gehad":
You use this rule when there is a "het" already present in the sentence. All you have to do is add a "gehad" at the end of the sentence:
Johan het 'n bal > Johan het 'n bal gehad
4. When there are 2 verbs in the sentence:
There are 3 ways you can change the sentence to past tense.
1) Both verbs get "ge-":
Die vrou was en stryk die klere > Die vrou het die klere gewas en gestryk
2) Only the first verb gets "ge-":
Die meisie lag en huil terselfdetyd > Die meisie het gelag en huil terselfdetyd
3) No conjugation:
Ek hoor die klok lui > Ek het die klok hoor lui
Although, this one is a bit tricky because the fact that you heard the bell ringing is changed into past tense but the fact that the bell rung is still in present tense. You can almost say that the action concerning you is changed but the time passing doesn't change the fact that the bell was ringing while you heard it. If that makes sense...
