You’ll use the German Future I (simple future tense) or Future II (future perfect tense) to talk about anything that takes place after the current moment. You’ll also notice Germans using the present tense with contextual clues to talk about future actions in daily life.
Discussing the future can vary from what you’ll do for dinner tonight all the way to what people will be doing in their daily lives 10,000 years from now and beyond. Learn how to talk about the future in German, along with clear charts and practical examples you can use to master the German future tenses.
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Using the present tense for future actions in daily conversation
In reality, most Germans talk about the future using the present tense together with a word like “tomorrow” to provide context or clues about when something will take place.
Instead of saying Ich werde morgen zum Laden gehen (I will go to the store tomorrow) in the future tense, you’re more likely to hear Germans say Ich gehe morgen zum Laden (I am going to the store tomorrow), which is in the present tense.
When to use the German future tenses
There’s still a practical place for the German future tense in daily conversation. Germans will speak in the future tenses when they want to place emphasis on something being in the future, to make a prediction, or if they want to add more formality or certainty to their tone.
For example, if you’re talking to a business associate, it would be more appropriate to speak in the future tense than to use the present tense with contextual clues. There are two German tenses to choose between when talking about events in the future:
- Futur I (simple future tense)
- Futur II (future perfect tense)
Futur I
The difference between the two lies in what you’re comparing the future event to. If you’re just comparing the future event to the current moment in the timeline, Futur I is the right choice.
Consider when you want to talk about what you’ll eat for breakfast tomorrow. You’re only talking about how this breakfast will happen after now, so Futur I is all you need.
Futur II
Otherwise, the Futur II compares future events to other events. If you want to say that something in the future will be done by the time something else in the future happens, then you should reach for Futur II.
Imagine a scenario where you need to update your boss on a timeline for a project submission. You can say that you “will have the project done by tomorrow.” You’re saying the future event of completing the project will be done before another future event, which, in this case, is the coming of tomorrow.
The role of werden in the future tenses
Regardless of whether you’re forming a sentence in the Futur I (simple future tense) or Futur II (future perfect tense), you’ll want to get comfortable conjugating werden (will). This is because it fills the same role that “will” does in English, and werden is used in both tenses.
The German conjugation of werden depends on the subject of your sentence, which is the noun that performs the action. For example, in the sentence Er mag Hunde (he likes dogs), er is the subject because “he” is the one who is doing the action of “liking.”
- Du wirst die Ergebnisse bald sehen. = You will see the results soon
- Thomas und Anna werden nach Berlin reisen. = Thomas and Anna will travel to Berlin.
- Ich werde das Problem schnell lösen. = I will solve the problem quickly.
The chart below shows how to conjugate werden if your subject is a pronoun like ich (I) or du (you, informal). If your subject is a proper noun like “Charles” or “the supermarket,” then you’ll just conjugate werden as though it were er/sie/es (he/she/it) instead, or as Sie (they) if there’s more than one proper noun as the subject.
| German Subject Pronoun | Werden Conjugation |
| ich (I) | werde |
| du (you, informal singular) | wirst |
| er/sie/es (he/she/it) | wird |
| wir (we) | werden |
| ihr (you all, informal plural) | werdet |
| sie/Sie (they/you, formal) | werden |
Forming the simple future tense in German
Once you’re comfortable conjugating werden (will), forming a sentence in Futur I (simple future tense) is light work. It mimics the present tense German sentence structure, but with two minor changes.
[subject] + [werden, conjugated] + [additional info] + [verb infinitive at the end]
First, you’ll place your conjugated werden as the second word of your sentence, where your verb normally goes. Next, take your verb and plop it at the very end of the expression in its infinitive form, meaning the form that usually ends in -en, like lesen (to read) or fahren (to drive). That’s it!
- Wir werden morgen zur Schule gehen. = We will go to school tomorrow.
- Ich werde mehr Wasser trinken. = I will drink more water.
Understanding the German future perfect tense
Utilizing the German Futur II (future perfect tense) means talking about something in the future that will be done before something else in the future. You can think of it like talking about how you’ll get all your chores done before the big concert that’s coming up on Friday night.
Since Futur II is a little more involved, grammatically speaking, you’ll need two more skills on top of conjugating werden (will):
- Forming a past participle out of a German verb
- Picking either haben (to have) or sein (to be)
Tips for forming a past participle
Past participles are forms of verbs that are used to form German perfect tenses. To transform a given German verb into its past participle form, start by finding the verb stem.
This is the core, unchanging part of a verb, usually found by removing its ending. For example, the verb stem of lernen (to learn) is lern-. Next, you’ll add to this verb stem:
ge- + [verb stem] + -en or -t
| German Verb | Past Participle | English Translation |
| lesen | gelesen | to read |
| fahren | gefahren | to drive |
| rennen | gerannt | to run |
| legen | gelegt | to put |
| singen | gesungen | to sing |
Picking either haben or sein
The last word in a Futur II (future perfect) clause can be one of two auxiliary verbs:
- haben (to have)
- sein (to be)
The good news is, you won’t need to conjugate either of these terms like you have to with werden (will). They will always appear in their infinitive forms, so you just have to decide which term is the correct one to use. To do so, ask yourself, “Does my verb imply movement or a change in state?”
If the answer is a resounding “yes,” then the correct choice is sein. Otherwise, you must choose haben as your ending auxiliary verb instead.
There are many common verbs that imply movement or change of state, and must take sein:
- fliegen = to fly
- aufwachen = to wake up
- gehen = to go
In contrast, these German verbs don’t imply movement or a change of state, and therefore must take haben instead:
- machen = to make
- sehen = to see
- essen = to eat
Constructing your own sentences in Futur II
Once your linguistic toolbox is packed with the knowledge of conjugating werden (to be), forming past participles, and choosing between haben (to have) and sein (to be), you’re ready to form your first Futur II (future perfect) sentences!
future perfect [subject] + [werden, conjugated] + [additional info] + [past participle] + [haben or sein]
Just like in Futur I (simple future), you will place werden, conjugated, as the second word of the sentence where your main verb would normally go. Your past participle version of your main verb will be your second-to-last word, followed by haben or sein, depending on your main verb.
- Ich werde das Buch bis morgen gelesen haben. = I will have read the book by tomorrow.
- Henry wird vor deiner Ankunft nach Berlin gefahren sein. = Henry will have driven to Berlin before your arrival.
- Frau Miller wird die Präsentation bis 9 Uhr vorbereitet haben. = Ms. Miller will have prepared the presentation by 9 o’clock.
Why German future tense names differ from English
Why does the German language simply call their future tenses “future one” and “future two,” while English calls them “simple future” and “future perfect”? In short, German doesn’t have all the same tenses that English enjoys. In English, there are “progressive” and “perfect” tenses, which either describe something that is ongoing or something that is completed, respectively.
Because German uses words to give context, it has no need to describe something in the future as “ongoing” with grammar. You can simply imply that the action will be ongoing with context clues.
Since there’s no progressive German tense, grammatically speaking, there’s no inherent need to contrast it by calling the other future tense “perfect.” Therefore, Germans differentiate the two just by labeling the “simple future” as Futur I and the “future perfect” as Futur II.
Key takeaways for the German future tense
The German future tense is used to discuss events that come after the present moment in time. Here are the some key takeaways about the German future tense:
- Germans often speak about the future in the present tense with contextual clues that indicate what’s happening is in the future.
- The future tense is used for emphasis, predictions, and formality.
- There are two future tenses in German: Futur I (simple future) and Futur II (future perfect).
- Futur I is used to discuss events that come after now, while Futur II describes future events that will be completed before other, even later, future events.
- Both German future tenses require you to conjugate and include the term werden (will), but Futur II requires a past participle and either haben (to have) or sein (to be).
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