Making a complaint

Ist es Ihnen gestern Abend noch nicht aufgefallen? Did you not notice it yesterday evening? The perfect tense of aufallen is aufgefallen using sein but I don't understand why it is Ist es Ihnen aufgefallen if we are using the polite you or is it the jacket that is getting noticed to him? But then if that was right then would it not be "Ist sie Ihnen" as "die Jacke" is feminine? Sorry, difficult to explain clearly. Thanks Doug

Hi Doug, I'm going to try to explain, but as usual Paul is the real expert. You have asked two questions. The first is why is "sein" used with the perfect and not "haben". At least I think that is the question. I don't know all the rules for that, but some verb forms, particularly those defining motion, use "sein" instead of "haben".to form the perfect tense. Regarding the second question, I'm pretty sure "Ihnen" refers to the person and not the jacket and as the polite form of "you" it is correct.

Hi again Doug, Your question regarding "sein" versus "haben" got me curious as to the rules so I did some searching. It is too complex to describe all the rules here, so I suggest you search for "auxilary German verbs perfect tense". Interestingly enough, some of the differences are purely regional e.g. "Ich habe gegessen" versus "Ich bin gegessen". So, good luck with that! I don't think anyone will laugh at us if we get it wrong and they will understand us.

Hi Doug, Unfortunately there is no general rule for when to use 'haben' or 'sein' with another verb and it is possible to use one verb with "sein" or "haben" depending more on the sentence structure than the intended meaning. Still often verbs with the prefix "auf-" use "sein" in the past participle. Examples: "Ich bin aufgewacht."-"I woke up" "Ich bin aufgestanden."-"I got up." "Ich bin aufgefrischt."-"I am refreshed." Sandra instead could have said to Mathias: "Haben sie es nicht gestern entdeckt."-"Haven't you discovered it yesterday?" or with the verb "sein": "Ist es gestern nicht von ihnen entdeckt worden?" I hope this helps! Viele Grüsse Paul