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Future tenseStep one - Personal pronouns

Conveying the future in German can be done in several ways - by using werden, by combining the present tense with future time phrases, or by using phrases like ich hoffe, ich plane zu, ich habe vor.

Part of GermanGrammar

Step one - Personal pronouns

Pronouns refer to who you are talking about in a sentence.

PersonGerman pronounEnglish pronoun
First person singularichI
Second person singular (informal)duyou
Third person singular (masculine)er/Felixhe/Felix
Third person singular (feminine)sie/Anjashe/Anja
Third person singular (neuter)esit
First person pluralwirwe
Second person plural (informal)ihryou
Second person plural (formal)Sieyou
Third person pluralsie/Felix und Anjathey/Felix and Anja
PersonFirst person singular
German pronounich
English pronounI
PersonSecond person singular (informal)
German pronoundu
English pronounyou
PersonThird person singular (masculine)
German pronouner/Felix
English pronounhe/Felix
PersonThird person singular (feminine)
German pronounsie/Anja
English pronounshe/Anja
PersonThird person singular (neuter)
German pronounes
English pronounit
PersonFirst person plural
German pronounwir
English pronounwe
PersonSecond person plural (informal)
German pronounihr
English pronounyou
PersonSecond person plural (formal)
German pronounSie
English pronounyou
PersonThird person plural
German pronounsie/Felix und Anja
English pronounthey/Felix and Anja

Step two - Using 'werden'

The verb werden is a , and its stem changes for the second and third person singular - du and er/sie/es. Used on its own, werden means 'to become' or 'to get', but when used as an with the infinitive, its meaning changes to the future - 'will' or 'going to'.

Form of werdenTranslation
ich werdeI will鈥
du wirstyou will鈥
er/Felix wirdhe/Felix will鈥
sie/Anja wirdshe/Anja will鈥
es wirdit will鈥
wir werden鈥we will鈥
ihr werdetyou will鈥
Sie werden鈥you will鈥
sie/Felix und Anja werden鈥They/Felix and Anja will鈥
Form of werdenich werde
TranslationI will鈥
Form of werdendu wirst
Translationyou will鈥
Form of werdener/Felix wird
Translationhe/Felix will鈥
Form of werdensie/Anja wird
Translationshe/Anja will鈥
Form of werdenes wird
Translationit will鈥
Form of werdenwir werden鈥
Translationwe will鈥
Form of werdenihr werdet
Translationyou will鈥
Form of werdenSie werden鈥
Translationyou will鈥
Form of werdensie/Felix und Anja werden鈥
TranslationThey/Felix and Anja will鈥

Step three - Using infinitives

Infinitives are the forms of the verb that you find in the dictionary. They are the fullest form of the verb, before you take off endings to form different tenses. All infinitives in English start with the word 'to' in front of them, whereas all infinitives in German end in either -en or -n.

Here are some examples of how to form the future tense using werden and an infinitive:

  • Sie wird heute Abend Lachs mit Salat essen. 鈥 She's going to eat salmon with salad this evening.
  • Wir werden zusammen in einer Band spielen. 鈥 We're going to play together in a band.
  • Ich werde meine Traumfrau heiraten und als Schauspieler arbeiten. - I will marry my dream woman and work as an actor.
A young man with two thought bubbles, one of him as a Shakespearean actor and the other of him getting married.
Ich werde stehen und warten. Ich werde m眉de werden. Ich werde nicht einschlafen. Ich werde sterben. - I will stand and wait. I will become tired. I will not fall asleep. I will die.
Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter