Talking about the Future

In this lesson you'll learn how to talk about events in the German Language that will happen in the future. You'll also learn some more common German verbs.

Flashcards and a quiz are included in the lesson to help you learn how to use German verbs to indicate future actions.

Zurich, Switzerland

Using the present tense to talk about the future

In German the present tense is often used to talk about what is going to happen in the future when the time the event will happen is included in the sentence. For example:

  • Ich gehe heute - I'm going today, or I'll go today.
  • Ich gehe morgen - I'm going tomorrow, or I'll go tomorrow.
  • Ich gehe nächste Woche - I'll go next week

The present tense can also be used to indicate something will happen soon. for example:

  • Ich denke darüber nach. - I'll think about it.
  • Ich helfe dir beim Aufräumen. - I'll help you clean up.

The helper verb werden can also be used to indicate an action will happen in the future. The next section discusses when to use this form to talk about the future.


Related Lessons

Talking about the Present
Instructions and Commands
Talking about the Past
Modal Verbs
Strong Verbs
Verb Prefixes
Subjunctive Mood

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Practice

1) Translate the following sentences to German using the present tense to indicate it will happen in the future.

I'm going to work tomorrow.

I'll give it back to you next week.

I'll look for a new job.

On Monday I'll clean the house.

Using werden to talk about the future

The future tense in German is formed by using present tense of the helper verb werden along with the infinitive of the verb, which goes at the end of a simple sentence. For example, Ich werde in den Laden gehen. means I will go to the store. The future tense is formed the same way for all verbs.

The future tense is usually used when:

  • making predictions
  • making promises
  • expressing doubts or assumptions
  • emphasizing that the event will happen in the future.

Although in some cases it's more common to use the present tense to indicate a future event, it's still fine to use the helper verb 'werden' instead. The following table shows the future tense for the verb machen. The same pattern is used for all other verbs.

machen to make
ich werde machen I will make
du wirst machen you will make (familiar singular)
er/sie/es wird machen he/she/it will make
wir werden machen we will make
ihr werdet machen you will make (familiar plural)
Sie werden machen you will make (polite)
sie werden machen they will make

Examples

Here are some examples of how to use the future tense.

Ich werde ihm helfen. I will help him.
Ich werde ihm nicht helfen. I won't help him.
Wirst du ihm helfen? Will you help him?
Wenn er zurückkommt, wird er mir bestimmt helfen. When he returns, he'll surely help me.
Das wirst du bereuen. You'll regret that.
Ich werde dir morgen helfen. I'll help you tomorrow.
Ich werde nicht zu spät sein. I won't be too late.
Sie wird wohl heute Abend ankommen. She will probably arrive this evening.
My brother will want to help. Mein Bruder wird helfen wollen.

Vocabulary

Here are some more common German verbs.

ändern change, modify, switch
danken thank
drücken press
erinnern remember
fangen catch
fragen ask
glühen glow
hoffen hope
holen fetch, get
hören hear, listen
lachen laugh
landen land
lieben love
schauen look
schieben push
schließen shut
wachsen grow
werfen throw
wundern wonder
zeigen show

Flashcards

This section contains flashcards to help you learn the future form of the German verbs included in this lesson.

German Future Form of Verbs Quiz

This quiz will help you learn how to use the future form of German verbs. Change the following sentences to indicate a future action using the helper verb 'werden'.

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