German Grammar: Future Tense

FUTURE TENSE

The future tense is used to express actions that will occur in the future. Forming and/or using the future tense is quite simple: use present tense (see below) or use proper future tense, employing the auxiliary werden.

SINGULAR PLURAL

ich werde wir werden

du wirst ihr werdet

er/sie/es (man) wird__ sie/Sie werden

Werden is slightly irregular:

it drops the d for 2nd SG,

it drops the -t conjugation ending for 3rd SG.

it has a vowel change e ==> i (which is regular as far as present tense vowel change verbs go; compare for example: geben ==> du gibst, er/sie/es gibt)

it adds an e in 2nd PL: ihr werdet (this is normal, though. Compare reden ==> ihr redet).

When the situation is clear, present tense may be used:

Anton fährt morgen nach München.
morgen is future, and present tense is all that is necessary (and preferred). One could also use proper future tense and say:
Anton wird morgen nach München fahren.
Here, werden requires a "dependent infinitive" (in the example fahren).
In a main clause the dependent infinitive is at the end; in a dependent clause, the conjugated form of werden is at the end. (This is similar to modal verbs).
Anton sagt, daß er morgen nach München fahren wird.
[Anton sagt, daß er jetzt gehen muß.]

A phrase in future tense, including a modal:

Anton muß nach München fahren.
Anton wird nach München fahren müssen.

As above, with main and dependent clause:

Anton sagt, daß er nach München fahren muß.
Anton sagt, daß er nach München wird fahren müssen.

ATTENTION
In example 4, the conjugated (=finite) verb wird is NOT at the end--it directly precedes the "double infinitive". This construction does not occur very much. Why? In such cases, present tense would be used to express future (as in example 3).

NOTE ALSO:

I will eat later. = Ich werde später essen.
I want to eat later. = Ich will später essen.

==> English "will" is German "werden" (future tense).
==> German "will" is English "want to" (modal verb, singular).
They never mean the same thing!

SPECIAL USAGE

Future tense in combination with certain adverbs is used to express determination, assumption, or probability. These forms are not used overly much, however, you should be familiar with them. Note the use of adverbs such as sicher (for sure...), bestimmt (for sure, definitely...), gewiß (certainly...), wohl (probably, likely...), and schon (already...) or vielleicht (perhaps, maybe...).

Determination
= Ja, ja, ich werde es machen. = Okay, I'll do it.
= Er wird sicher kommen. = He will come for sure.
Assumption
= Das wird wohl stimmen. = Well, guess it is allright.
(Note that here you are actually talking about the present)
Probability
= Das wird schon gut werden. = It will be allright.
= Vielleicht wird er es machen. = Maybe/Perhaps he will do it.

ÜBUNGEN

If you cannot enter special characters directly:
* Cut & Paste the appropriate character from here: ß - Ä - ä - Ö - ö - Ü - ü
* Or, for the "ß" use the capital letter "B" (or an "sz"), for umlauts use these transcriptions: ä = ae; Ä = AE; ü = ue etc.

A. Schreiben Sie die Sätze in Futur (mit "werden").

1. Renate schreibt oft.
2. Nein, ich bin nicht hier.
3. Wohin geht ihr?
4. Liest Ute das Buch?
5. Ich rufe euch an.
6. Kannst du kommen?

B. Übersetzen Sie. Vorsicht, einige Sätze sind schwierig!

1. Sophie will do it tomorrow.

2. He will arrive soon.

3. Andreas, will you do it?

4. Was willst du von mir?

5. I want to know that!

6. Wir werden eine Prüfung schreiben.

7. Adolf wird müde.

8. Juliane says (that) she will have to do it later.

9. Am Wochenende wird das Wetter sicher besser.

10. Sie wird wohl später kommen.

11. Vielleicht werden wir das Spiel gewinnen!

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German Grammar * Review & Exercises

FUTURE TENSE

ÜBUNGEN