"I saw the first computer."

Translation: Ich sah den ersten Computer.

[Marco2lingo]

Ich sah den ersten Rechner ?

[Katherle]

Yes, that's fine. Report it if it wasn't accepted.

[Marco2lingo]

Thanks

[biddlesby]

I've reported this one too

[amyhansen]

can you use simple past with this sentence - "sah" instead of "habe gesehen"?

[Katherle]

Yes, you can.

[kyky]

With a few exceptions (like "sein"), simple past is restricted to written German.

[biddlesby]

People always say this, but I've heard loads of Germans use the simple past! I think German speakers use it more than they think.

[Turtlerider]

Correct. We use it all the time.

[Marco2lingo]

Ich sah den ersten Rechner ?

[justin981104]

Nicht wahrscheinlich, Alan Turing hat den ersten Computer erfunden 1936!

[Martin135869]

Die Chinesen haben den Abakus bereits in der Steinzeit erfunden

[mingmingmeowmeow]

Why ersten and not erste?

[miriam0216]

I don't know about you guys. But I HAVE NOT learned past tense yet.