I. Theory
Conveying the future tense in German is similar in its construction to English. Where English speakers use the auxiliary verb will, Germans use a conjugated form of werden + an infinitive. As with other tenses in German, the future can represent various nuanced forms found in English.| Ich werde sprechen. I will speak. or I will be speaking. or I am going to speak. |
Here, we see how werden is conjugated in the present tense:
| ich | werde | wir | werden |
| du | wirst | ihr | werdet |
| er/sie/es | wird | sie/Sie | werden |
II. Word order
Werden functions like other modal verbs and thus adheres to the same changes in word order.| Was wirst du jetzt tun? What are you going to do now? Nach dieser langen Woche werde ich das ganze Wochenende schlafen. After this long week, I am going to sleep the entire weekend. Glaubst du, dass sie im Sommer nach Deutschland reisen werden? Do you think that they will travel to Germany in the summer? |
III. Using the present tense to show future events
Germans tend to use the Futur less frequently than English speakers use will. For this reason, the future is often conveyed by simply using the present tense and implementing a time marker to show when the event will happen:| Meine Eltern kommen morgen an. My parents arrive tomorrow. or my parents will be arriving tomorrow. Was machen wir heute Abend? What are we doing tonight? or what are we going to do tonight? |
Here, we see an instance where the German present is used but in English, the future would be preferred:
| A: Ich habe noch Gepäck im Auto. B: Ich helfe dir, es ins Haus zu bringen. A: I still have bags in the car. B:I’ll help you bring them in. |
IV. When Futur is preferred
In the following situations, Germans prefer using werden to convey the future: to show events distant in the future, to differentiate from present events, and to emphasize that an event will happen at some point in the future.| Das ist euer Problem und ihr werdet es lösen! This is your problem and you will fix it! Ich ziehe jetzt nicht aus, und ich werde nie ausziehen! I’m not moving out now, and I will not move out ever! 2020 wird jeder ein Hybridauto fahren. In 2020, everyone will drive a hybrid car. |