German Future Tense

Overview

The future tense (also known as Futur I) is mostly used to express assumptions about the present or future in German. We can also use this tense to express future intentions, although, in spoken German, it is more common to use the present tense for this.

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June 28, 2023

Stephen Sovenyhazy

Das Futur I

The future can be expressed through adverbs of time, such as ‘morgen,’ ‘übermorgen,’ bald,’ ‘nächste Woche,’ ‘in der Zukunft,’ etc., as well as through the future tense (das Futur). This is constructed from a present tense conjugation of ‘werden’ plus an infinitive of the main verb placed at the end of the sentence. For example, if you want to say that you will buy a bicycle, it would look like this:

Ich werde ein Fahrrad kaufen.

The main verb ‘kaufen’ carries the meaning of the sentence, and ‘werden’ is just used to indicate the future tense, much like the English equivalent ‘will.’ Further, ‘werden’ can be used as a main verb in the future tense:

Du wirst frustriert werden. / You will be getting frustrated.

In addition, the adverbs ‘wohl,’ ‘wahrscheinlich,’ and ‘vielleicht’ (highly likely, probably, maybe, respectively) are added to speculate (e.g. Hannah wird wahrscheinlich nicht zur Party kommen.). There are two forms of the future (Futur I & II), the latter being the future perfect.

Werden

In German, the future tense is expressed through the verb ‘werden’ and the infinitive of the main verb. By itself, ‘werden’ means ‘to become’ or ‘get’ (e.g. Es wird spät. / It is getting late.); however, it is also used to construct the future tenses as well as the passive voice (more on the latter in A2.2). The verb is conjugated below.

Here are some further examples of how ‘werden’ is used in the present tense as a main verb:

Heute hast du Geburtstag! Du wirst älter! / Today is your birthday! You are getting older!

Das Wetter wird immer kühler. / The weather is becoming increasingly cool/getting cooler.

Highlighted Author:

Stephen Sovenyhazy

Stephen is the President of CORE Languages having founded the company in 2007. His focus is on empowering those with a need for community, culture and communication. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. A quote from Stephen. "When I started teaching, I sought to bring that same energy, dedication, and sense of purpose into my own classrooms. I founded CORE Languages to expand that vision, seeing the growing need for language training options designed to meet the unique needs of business environments. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. It’s a privilege to do what we do and share what we love with you.”

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Additional Topics

German Accusative and Dative Prepositions

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German Review of all Tenses

German Idioms

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

The CEFR is an international standard used to describe language ability. Here are specific details of the CEFR for this topic.

General Explanation:

Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

Specific Capabilities at this Level

Writing:

I can write a short, simple postcard, for example sending holiday greetings. I can fill in forms with personal details, for example entering my name, nationality and address on a hotel registration form.

Spoken Production:

I can use simple phrases and sentences to describe where I live and people I know.

Spoken Interaction:

I can interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech and help me formulate what I’m trying to say. I can ask and answer simple questions in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics.

Reading:

I can understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences, for example on notices and posters or in catalogues.

Listening:

I can recognize familiar words and very basic phrases concerning myself, my family and immediate concrete surroundings when people speak slowly and clearly.