Kapitel 23

The Future Tense

Learn to talk about future events in German using present tense and werden + infinitive

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📖 Future Tenses in English and German

To talk about something that is going to happen, you use the future tense. English has several ways of expressing this:

German also has different ways of referring to future events. Let's explore them!

🎯 The Two Main Forms in German

1. The Present Tense for Future

The easiest and most common way is to use the present tense when the context makes it clear you're referring to a future event:

Heute Abend bleibe ich zu Hause. This evening I am staying at home.

2. werden + Infinitive

Another option is to use werden + infinitive:

Am Wochenende werde ich auf eine Party gehen. At the weekend I'll go to a party.

🕐 Using the Present Tense for Future

Speakers of German mainly use the present tense to refer to the future when the context makes it clear that you are referring to a future event.

Wir gehen heute ins Theater. We're going to the theatre today.
Fahrt ihr nach Italien in den Ferien? Will you be going to Italy in your holidays?
Er macht Bratwurst zum Abendessen. He'll be making sausage for supper.

As you can see, there are often bits of information in the sentence which suggest the future:

📅 Expressions Indicating the Future

There are quite a few words which give clear indications of a time in the future:

bald soon
später later
morgen tomorrow
in 10 Minuten in 10 minutes
in einer Woche in a week
heute Abend tonight
nächsten Monat next month
am Wochenende at the weekend

Whenever you are using one of these words, you can quite easily use the present tense because it is evident that you are not speaking about the present.

Ich bin bald fertig. I'll be ready soon.
Wir kommen später. We'll come later.
Er hat morgen eine Prüfung. He's got an exam tomorrow.
Sie können es in 10 Minuten abholen. You can collect it in 10 minutes.
In einer Woche sind wir in Italien! In a week's time we'll be in Italy!
Heute Abend gibt es nichts im Fernsehen. There's nothing on television tonight.
Habt ihr nächsten Monat Zeit? Will you be free next month?

🔮 Using werden + Infinitive

The other way of talking about future events uses grammatical forms which are similar in English and in German:

Ich werde dich anrufen. I will call you.
Wirst du zu Hause sein? Will you be at home?
Er wird die ganze Woche lange arbeiten. He will be working late all week.
Der Film wird in Europa rauskommen. The film will be released in Europe.
Sie werden im August umziehen. They will move house in August.

English uses 'will' + the infinitive of the main verb and German uses the finite form of werden + the infinitive of the main verb.

German uses this future tense with werden + infinitive mostly in written German, when making a prediction, indicating probability or emphasising a point:

Morgen wird es regnen. Tomorrow it will rain.
Sie werden wahrscheinlich nach Mallorca fliegen. They will probably fly to Majorca.
Ich werde im Mai mein Abitur machen. I'll sit my A levels in May.

📋 Werden Conjugation

Werden is quite irregular. Here are all forms:

⚠️ Note the following irregularities:

  • werden has a stem vowel change with du and er/sie/es: e → i: du wirst, er/sie/es wird
  • The form for du also drops the d from the stem: du wirst
  • There is no additional ending with er/sie/es: er wird
Person werden (finite) + Infinitive Example
ich werde arbeiten Ich werde arbeiten.
du wir-st arbeiten Du wirst arbeiten.
Sie werd-en arbeiten Sie werden arbeiten.
er/sie/es wird arbeiten Er wird arbeiten.
wir werd-en arbeiten Wir werden arbeiten.
ihr werd-et arbeiten Ihr werdet arbeiten.
Sie (pl.) werd-en arbeiten Sie werden arbeiten.
sie (they) werd-en arbeiten Sie werden arbeiten.

📝 Word Order

The main verb is always in the infinitive, and it is placed at the end of the clause or sentence. Werden is the finite verb form and is in second position:

Der Film wird in Europa rauskommen. The film will be released in Europe.
Sie werden im August umziehen. They will move house in August.

You have already come across this principle with modal verbs and with the present perfect tense.

💡 Tips for English Speakers

ℹ️ No Progressive Form

As with all other tenses, German does not have a progressive form of the future tense ('I will be working'). Only the 'normal' future is used in German:

Ich werde arbeiten. (NOT: Ich werde arbeitend sein)

⚠️ Avoid wollen for 'will'

Also avoid using the modal verb wollen + infinitive to talk about the future.

Ich will arbeiten does NOT mean 'I will work'. It means 'I want to work'.

✏️ Exercise 23.1

UNDERLINE
Instructions: Underline the words and expressions which indicate the future. Click on the words to select them.
Example: Am Dienstag gehen wir ins Restaurant.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

✏️ Exercise 23.2

SENTENCE BUILDING
Instructions: Make complete sentences using the future tense with werden and say what these people will do at the weekend.
Example: ich → einkaufen gehen → Ich werde am Wochenende einkaufen gehen.
Frauke → einen Kriminalroman lesen
Jörg → ins Kino gehen
Peter und Anna → zu Hause bleiben
ich → Freunde besuchen
du → viel fernsehen
die Nachbarn → eine Party machen
Anja → im Supermarkt arbeiten
Opa → ein Fußballspiel sehen

✏️ Exercise 23.3

TRANSLATION
Instructions: Translate the following sentences. Use (a) the present tense and then (b) the future tense with werden. Use the du, Sie and ihr forms for 'you'.
1. In the evening I'll visit friends.
2. Tomorrow I'll go to the cinema.
3. On Friday I'll work late.
4. At the weekend I'll stay at home.
5. I'll come later.
6. What are you doing later? (du form)
7. What are you doing in the summer holidays? (ihr form)
8. I'll spend my holidays in Spain.

✓ Checklist

Check off each item as you master it:

← From Previous (e22)

Building on: Simple Past Tense (Präteritum) - You learned to talk about completed actions in the past using regular and irregular verb forms.

Now you're expanding your time expressions to the future!

→ Coming Next (e24)

Prepare for: Prepositions - Learn how German prepositions work with different cases (accusative, dative, genitive) and common prepositional phrases.

Time expressions often use prepositions like "in", "an", "zu"!