There are two easy options to express the future in German:
Use the present tense along with a time expression:
Morgen gehe ich in den Zoo.
Tomorrow I’m going to the zoo.
Use werden + verb:
Ich werde in den Zoo gehen.
I will go to the zoo.
You don’t really need to have a glass ball, a DeLorean, or be a fortune teller to express the future in German. Are you now wondering when to use which one? Fear not, continue reading and you will find out.
In German, we use the present tense to talk about a future activity, an event, or a situation that is certain to take place. To make it clear that you’re talking about the future and not the present, you’ll usually want to add a future time expression along with the present tense of the verb.
Martin reist mit einem Freund nach München.
Martin travels to Munich with a friend.
Nächste Woche reist Martin mit einem Freund nach München.
Next week, Martin travels to Munich with a friend.
Here are some of the time expressions that can be used to express the future. They can be in the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. Move them to the beginning of a sentence if you want to emphasize the time the event will take place.
German | English |
|---|---|
morgen | tomorrow |
übermorgen | day after tomorrow |
bald | soon |
demnächst | soon, in the near future |
nächstens | next |
nachher | later, afterwards |
danach | after, afterwards |
dann | then, afterwards |
später | later |
künftig | in the future |
zukünftig | in the future |
in der Zukunft | in the future |
nächsten Montag, nächsten Dienstag,... | next Monday, next Tuesday,... |
nächstes Wochenende | next weekend |
nächste Woche | next week |
nächsten Monat | next month |
nächstes Jahr | next year |
Time expressions using the adjectives nächst-(next), jed-(every), kommend-(coming), morgig-(tomorrow), gestrig-(yesterday), among others are always in the accusative case.
Ihr Urlaub beginnt kommenden Donnerstag.
Their vacation begins this coming Thursday.
Das nächste Jahr ist er oft auf Geschäftsreise.
Next year, he will often be on business trips.
German uses a werden + infinitive construction when a future activity, event, or situation is uncertain. Let’s talk about how to form this tense, then we’ll look at some examples of when you might use it.
To form the future with werden, combine a form of werden in the present tense with the infinitive of the main verb. For example:
Sie wird ihr Zimmer aufräumen.
She will clean her room.
Here are the forms of werden:
Subject | werden |
|---|---|
ich(I) | werde |
du(you sg.) | wirst* |
er, sie, es(he, she, it) | wird* |
wir(we) | werden |
ihr(you pl.) | werdet |
sie, Sie(they, you fml.) | werden |
The verb werden is also the auxiliary verb for the passive voice. You can differentiate between the future tense and passive voice by looking at the verb form of the main verb. If it is the infinitive, you are dealing with the future tense. If it is the past participle, you are dealing with the passive voice.
Sie wird für den Urlaub einen neuen Koffer kaufen.
She will buy a new suitcase for vacation.
Ein neuer Koffer wird für den Urlaub gekauft.
A new suitcase is bought for vacation.
As we said above, in German, we form the future with werden when discussing an uncertain future. You might form the future this way when you’re stating your intentions or making an assumption about what you think will happen.
Compare these different forms of the future:
Wir werden heute Abend ins Kino gehen.
We will go to the movies tonight.
Wir gehen heute Abend ins Kino.
We are going to the movies tonight.
Because the werden + infinitive construction signals some uncertainty, you’ll often use it with adverbs like wohl(probably, possibly), vielleicht(maybe, possibly), or wahrscheinlich(probably). These adverbs generally go as close to the conjugated verb as you can manage without breaking regular word order rules. If you want to emphasize the adverb, put it first. Take a look at the following examples:
Es wird wohl regnen.
It will probably rain.
Vielleicht werde ich am Wochenende ins Kino gehen.
Maybe I will go to the movies on the weekend.
Heute wird sie wahrscheinlich nicht mehr das Haus verlassen.
Today, she will probably not leave the house anymore.
In a main clause, the future with werden follows the standard German word order rules: the auxiliary verb werden is placed in the second position and the infinitive in the final position.
Er wird seine Hausaufgaben machen.
He will complete his homework.
Here are some other types of clauses you might want to form:
Form questions by bringing werden to the front, followed by the :
Wird sie…?
Will she…?
Form a negative sentence by adding the word nicht:
Es wird nicht regnen.
It won’t rain.
In dependent clauses, the word order rules are also as expected: the auxiliary verb werden is placed in the final position with the infinitive directly preceding it.
Anna ist verärgert, weil ihr Zug wegen des Sturms nicht pünktlich sein wird.
Anna is annoyed, because her train will not be punctual because of the storm.
And here are some rules for using modal verbs in this tense:
In a main clause, the modal verb will be in the final position.
Die Kinder werden den Spielplatz nicht benutzen dürfen.
The children will not be allowed to use the playground.
In a dependent clause, the conjugated form of werden is in the third-to-last position. This may sound complicated, but don’t worry too much about it, because it is rarely used.
Ich freue mich so sehr, weil ich die Reise werde antreten können.
I am so happy, because I will be able to go on the trip.
The structure werden + infinitive can not only be used to express future events, but also to express:
A threat:
Du wirst jetzt nicht mehr rausgehen!
You will not go out now!
Das wirst du jetzt nicht mehr machen!
You will not do that anymore!
A threatening prediction:
Das wirst du bereuen!
You will regret that!
Sie wird dir die Leviten lesen!
She will read you the riot act!
An imperative equivalent:
Wirst du jetzt endlich dein Zimmer aufräumen!
Will you finally clean up your room now!
Werdet ihr jetzt endlich leise sein!
Will you be quiet already!
Here is what you need to remember about the future tense in German:
To express a certain future → use the present tense + a time expression.
To express an uncertain future → use the werden + infinitive construction.
Want to practice what you’ve learned? Try out these German future tense exercises! Best of luck!
