Future tense (with audio)

The Future Tense in German

Today I want to show you two easy ways of expressing the future tense in German. Firstly with the present tense and secondly with the Future I and the word werden.

Using the present tense to express the future

The future tense in German is not that difficult. If you read the following carefully you will master this subject very fast.

In many cases you can use the present tense and just add some words or time phrases that indicate the future.

Some example words and time phrases that indicate the future tense: 

in 20 Minuten – in 20 minutes

heute Abend – tonight

morgen – tomorrow

morgen früh – tomorrow morning

übermorgen – the day after tomorrow

nächste Woche – next week

Some example sentences: 

Deine Schwester besucht dich nächsten Monat.
Your sister is visiting you next month.

Mein Bruder fliegt nächstes Jahr nach Deutschland.
My brother is flying to Germany next year.

Ich spiele morgen Piano.
I’m playing the piano tomorrow.

As you can see the German verbs are in the present tense. We can use the present tense because we also used words or time phrases which make clear that we talk about future events.

Using the Future I to express the future tense

If you want to express the future tense you can almost always use the word: werden.

It is not difficult and if you do understand the pattern then you can transform every sentence easily into the future tense form.

Even irregular verbs are easy because they follow the same pattern. You only need to know how to conjugate one word = werden (will / become).

ich werde
I will (I become)

du wirst
you will (you become)

er/sie/es wird
he/she/it will (he/she/it becomes)

wir werden
we will (we become)

ihr werdet
you will (you become)

sie/Sie* werden
they/you will (they/you become)

*Sie = polite form of you.

Let’s have a look at these example sentences before we transform them: 

Ich lerne Deutsch.
I study German. (I’m studying German)

Du lernst Deutsch.
You study German. (You’re studying German)

Er lernt Deutsch.
He studies German. (He is studying German)

Let’s transform the sentences above into the future tense

If you want to transform the sentences above into the future tense you just need to replace the verbs: lerne, lernst, lernt with the conjugated form of: werden and put the verb: lernen at the end of the sentence in the main form (full verb).

Remember – German verbs (in the basic form) have mostly an en at the end.

Ich lerne Deutsch.

1) Replace lerne with werde

2) Change lerne to the full verb lernen and put it to the end of the sentence.

Gegenwart (present):
Ich lerne Deutsch.

Zukunft (future)
=> Ich werde Deutsch lernen.

_ _ _

Du lernst Deutsch.

1) Replace lernst with wirst

2) Change lernst to the full verb lernen and put it to the end of the sentence.

Gegenwart:
Du lernst Deutsch.

Zukunft:
Du wirst Deutsch lernen.

_ _ _

Er lernt Deutsch.

1) Replace lernt with wird

2) Change lernt to the full verb lernen and put it to the end of the sentence.

Gegenwart:
Er lernt Deutsch.

Zukunft:
Er wird Deutsch lernen.

Here are more examples: 

Gegenwart: 

Ich fliege zum Mond.
I’m flying to the moon.

Zukunft: 

Ich werde zum Mond fliegen.
I will fly to the moon.

Gegenwart: 

Du liest ein Buch.
You are reading a book.

Zukunft: 

Du wirst ein Buch lesen.
You will read a book.

Gegenwart: 

Maria küsst Fabian.
Maria is kissing Fabian.

Zukunft: 

Maria wird Fabian küssen.
Maria will kiss Fabian.

Gegenwart: 

Wir kaufen ein Auto.
We are buying a car.

Zukunft: 

Wir werden ein Auto kaufen.
We will buy a car.

Gegenwart: 

Ihr* trinkt Orangensaft.
* Ihr = in the sense of „you all“.
You are drinking orange juice.

Zukunft: 

Ihr werdet Orangensaft trinken.
You will drink orange juice.

Gegenwart: 

Sie gehen in die Schule.
They go to school.

Zukunft: 

Sie werden in die Schule gehen.
They will go to school.

Remember: The conjugated verb will be replaced by the conjugated form of the word: werden and then goes to the end of the sentence in the main form.

Note:
In English there is also the possibility to use „I’m going to…“ to express the future. Don’t translate it literally to German, it would make no sense!

Of course you can add words or time phrases that indicate the future in addition:

Gegenwart:

Ich fliege zum Mond.
I’m flying to the moon.

Zukunft:

Ich werde nächste Woche zum Mond fliegen.
I will fly to the moon next week.

Gegenwart:

Du liest ein Buch.
You are reading a book.

Zukunft:

Du wirst morgen ein Buch lesen.
You will read a book tomorrow.

Gegenwart:

Maria küsst Fabian.
Maria is kissing Fabian.

Zukunft:

Maria wird heute Abend Fabian küssen.
Maria will kiss Fabian tonight.

Tip:
Don’t worry about grammar or word order too much.

If you practice with my packages regularly (Package XL, Upgrade Package and Fairy Tale Package) you will learn these things automatically just by listening and without learning any rules by heart.

I recommend doing these online basic lessons only in addition to my learning packages to deepen your knowledge of the German language!

The Future Tense in German
Questions and Answers

How to learn with part B of the exercise

Question and Answer Part:

1. Read and listen a few times to the questions and answers.
2. Answer the questions in the pauses (you may look also at the answers).
3. After a few times don’t look at the answers anymore.
4. Make sure that you imitate the pronunciation of my voice.
5. Repeat the lesson until you can answer the questions easily.

Fragen und Antworten: 

Ich werde zum Mond fliegen.

Frage:
Wohin werde ich fliegen?

Kurze Antwort:
Zum Mond

Lange Antwort:
Ich werde zum Mond fliegen.

_ _ _

Du wirst ein Buch lesen.

Frage: 

Wirst du ein Buch oder eine Zeitung (newspaper) lesen?

Kurze Antwort:
Ein Buch.

Lange Antwort:
Du wirst ein Buch lesen.

_ _ _

Wir werden heute Abend ein Auto kaufen.

Frage: 

Werden wir heute Abend ein Auto kaufen? 

Ja, wir werden heute Abend ein Auto kaufen.

_ _ _

Maria wird Fabian küssen.

Frage: 

Wird Maria Klaus küssen? 

Nein, Maria wird nicht Klaus küssen.
Maria wird Fabian küssen.

Wird Maria Fabian so richtig abknutschen (smother with kisses)? 

Genau (that’s right), Maria wird Fabian so richtig abknutschen.

Two more pages that will help you with the Futur 1: 

So that you can understand the German future tense easily. Practice also with my future tense exercises with solutions it would help you to learn the structure deeply.

I suggest that you also check out my page where I explain the German imperative form.

Do you think my lessons are too difficult for you?

I know you are worried but don’t lose heart! I met many beginners, who all started from zero and they all made huge progress with my method and lessons.

You have all you need:

1) The English translation (for understanding)

2) The recorded speaker (for pronunciation)

3) The written words (for spelling)

4) The question and answer parts for active participation (to save the information in your brain).

You don’t have to learn words by heart. You will learn them automatically. All you have to do is a lot of repetitions. Trust me, it is just a matter of repetition.

You can do it! – Have faith in yourself and never give up!