German Phrase
Sie haben sich letztes Jahr kennengelernt.
Meaning
‘You met each other last year.’ The sentence uses the formal ‘Sie’, the perfect tense, and the reflexive verb kennen‑lernen to describe a first meeting that happened in the previous calendar year.
When to use
Use this sentence when you want to tell someone (in a polite or professional setting) when you first met a person or a group. It works for both singular formal ‘you’ and plural formal ‘you’.
✦Grammar Breakdown
SiehabensichletztesJahrkennengelernt
Sie (formal you)
Third‑person plural pronoun used as the formal 'you' in German, regardless of singular or plural addressee.
haben (auxiliary)
Auxiliary verb used to form the perfect tense with most verbs, including separable verbs like kennenlernen.
sich (reflexive pronoun)
Reflexive pronoun that matches the subject; required with the verb kennenlernen.
kennengelernt (past participle)
Past participle of the separable verb kennen‑lernen; the prefix ‘kennen‑’ separates in the present tense but stays attached in the participle.
letztes Jahr (time expression)
A temporal phrase meaning ‘last year’; placed before the verb in the perfect construction.
🗨In Conversation
Wie haben Sie sich kennengelernt?
How did you meet?
Wir haben uns letztes Jahr kennengelernt.
We met last year.
✕Common Mistakes
Sie haben sich letztes Jahr kennen gelernt.
The past participle of a separable verb stays together; do not split it.
Letztes Jahr Sie haben sich kennengelernt.
Temporal phrases normally precede the verb in the perfect construction.
Sie haben sich letztes Jahr kennengelernt?
When forming a statement, no question mark is needed; use a period unless you intend a question.
↔Alternatives
Sie haben sich im letzten Jahr kennengelernt.
You met each other in the last year.
Sie trafen sich im vergangenen Jahr.
You met each other last year.
Sie haben sich im vergangenen Jahr kennengelernt.
You met each other in the past year.
Cultural Tip
In German, ‘kennenlernen’ is used for a first‑time meeting, while ‘treffen’ is more common for subsequent meetings. The formal ‘Sie’ is preferred in business, with strangers, or when showing respect. Remember that the perfect tense with ‘haben’ is the default past tense for most verbs, especially separable ones like kennen‑lernen.