German Verb Review 1
Verb Tense Confusion + werden
With self-scoring quiz
In this first part of our three-part German Verb Review we discuss briefly two aspects of possible verb confusion: (1) the past in German and English, and (2) "werden" and its use for the passive voice and the future tense. As a special bonus, we also offer a self-scoring quiz (with answer key) at the end of this feature! (Are you a beginner? See our German Regular Verbs chart and our free German for Beginners online course.)
THE PAST
German and English don't always talk about the past in the same way. In English we use the past tense to say, "I used to live in Berlin," or "I lived in Berlin," if we no longer live there. As long as it was in the past, German also uses the past tense: "Ich habe in Berlin gewohnt," or "Ich wohnte in Berlin." (The first German sentence is in the present perfect, the second in the perfect/simple past/narrative past tense. The first is also known as the "conversational past.")
However, when we want to express, "I have lived in Berlin for 15 years," (and I still live there) in English, we use a present perfect construction ("have lived"), while German uses the present tense with "(schon) seit" to convey this idea: "Ich wohne schon seit 15 Jahren in Berlin," literally, "I live/am living since 15 years in Berlin." (An odd construction that Germans sometimes incorrectly transfer into English.)
MORE > The Two German Past Tenses
Caution! | Vorsicht! Time expressions:
"vor zwei Jahren" = "two years ago"
"seit zwei Jahren" = "for two years"
WERDEN
The German verb "werden" is very versatile. It is used in many ways, and is thus a source of confusion for learners of German. By itself werden means "to become." Used with an infinitive (the "to" form) of another verb, werden forms the future tense: "Er wird den Brief schreiben." ("He will write the latter.") But used with a past participle, werden forms the passive voice: "Der Brief wurde von ihm geschrieben." ("The letter was written by him.")
German uses both the passive voice and the future tense much less than English, but you will run across them sooner or later. And there is yet another source of confusion for the future tense. The verb "wollen" (to want to) often takes the form "will" -- a "false friend" that looks exactly like the English word used to express the future tense. But "I will fly to Hawaii," is expressed in German as either, "Ich werde nach Hawaii fliegen," or even, "Ich fliege nach Hawaii," (the present tense used as future; "I'm flying..." or "I'm going to fly...").
German also has many substitutes for the passive, often using the pronoun "man" (one/you/they; not to be confused with "der Mann"). German often uses an active construction such as, "Hier spricht man Deutsch," for "German spoken here," a passive construction in English.
MORE > werden (fully conjugated in all tenses)
German Strong Verbs
A verb chart with the principal parts of irregular (strong) German verbs — in German and English.
NEXT > Verb Quiz 1
Verb Review 1: Verb Confusion
Verb Review 2: Modal Verbs
Verb Review 3: Pres. Perfect
Related Pages
German Verbs - Contents
Our main verbs page with links to all of our German verbs pages.
German Regular Verbs
Are you a beginner? See this verb chart! Also look at our free German for Beginners online course.
German Strong Verbs
A verb chart with the principal parts of irregular (strong) German verbs - in German and English.
Verb Review 2
A look at the modal verbs in German. Includes a self-scoring quiz.
Verb Review 3
The German present perfect tense. Includes a self-scoring quiz.
German Grammar Topics
Articles and grammar charts on this site, arranged by topic. Also links to other German grammar sites.
Books About German Verbs
If you scored low on the quiz, maybe you should get 501 German Verbs or other verb books.
NEXT > Verb Quiz 1
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