Conveying the future in German can be done in several ways - by using werden, by combining the present tense with future time phrases, or by using phrases like ich hoffe, ich plane zu, ich habe vor.
We use the future tense in German to talk about our plans for the future. This could be what you are going to have for tea this evening, or something you will do in many years to come.
In English it can mean that you 'will' or are 'going to' do something.
There are three steps to forming the future tense in German.
Pronouns refer to who you are talking about in a sentence.
Person | German pronoun | English pronoun |
---|---|---|
First person singular | ich | I |
Second person singular (informal) | du | you |
Third person singular (masculine) | er/Felix | he/Felix |
Third person singular (feminine) | sie/Anja | she/Anja |
Third person singular (neuter) | es | it |
First person plural | wir | we |
Second person plural (informal) | ihr | you |
Second person plural (formal) | Sie | you |
Third person plural | sie/Felix und Anja | they/Felix and Anja |
\
When do we use du, ihr and Sie?
The verb werden is a strong verb, and its stem changes for the second and third person singular - du and er/sie/es. Used on its own, werden means 'to become' or 'to get', but when used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive, its meaning changes to the future - 'will' or 'going to'.
Form of werden | Translation |
---|---|
ich werde… | I will… |
du wirst… | you will… |
er/Felix wird… | he/Felix will… |
sie/Anja wird… | she/Anja will… |
es wird… | it will… |
wir werden… | we will… |
ihr werdet… | you will… |
Sie werden… | you will… |
sie/Felix und Anja werden… | They/Felix and Anja will… |
Infinitives are the forms of the verb that you find in the dictionary. They are the fullest form of the verb, before you take off endings to form different tenses. All infinitives in English start with the word 'to' in front of them, whereas all infinitives in German end in either -en or -n.
\
Here are some examples of how to form the future tense using werden and an infinitive:
\