Futur I

das Futur I

Futur I is the German future construction: a form of werden plus an infinitive at the end of the clause (Ich werde gehen).

“Ich werde gehen” does not have to be the future — it can be a guess. English will does the same thing (“He’ll be in the office by now”), and German werden does even more jobs than that.

Contents

Right now: the future tense actually does two jobs

This builds on

A1 · Verb conjugation (Präsens)A1 · sein · haben · werden

If you already know how werden conjugates, the only thing left to learn here is where to use it.

ShortcutIf there is a time word, the Präsens is enough (morgen · nächste Woche). Save werden + infinitive for guesses, promises and formal announcements.

Sentence	What it says	When to use it
Morgen gehe ich zum Arzt.	I’m going to the doctor tomorrow.	this is what people say in daily life
Morgen werde ich zum Arzt gehen.	Same meaning, more formal / firmer	writing · promises
Er wird jetzt wohl schlafen.	He’s probably asleep right now. — not the future!	a guess

The third row is the most important thing on this page. When the sentence contains a word meaning “now” and a guessing word like wohl, werden + infinitive is not about the future but about the present — and it is a guess. Without wohl it depends on context: Er wird jetzt schlafen. can also mean “he is going to sleep now”.

The build: the werden you know, infinitive at the end

The structure is exactly the same as with modal verbs: conjugated verb in second position, infinitive at the end. You are not learning anything new — werden just steps into the slot. Think of English “will go”, except that it changes with the person.

Person	werden	Example
ich	werde	Ich werde es machen.
du	wirst	Du wirst es schaffen.
er / sie / es	wird	Er wird kommen.
wir	werden	Wir werden sehen.
ihr	werdet	Ihr werdet euch freuen.
sie / Sie	werden	Sie werden es bald sehen.

In a subordinate clause the order changes and werden slides to the very end: …, dass er morgen kommen wird.

It has four separate jobs, and all four use the same pattern — the other words in the sentence tell you which one it is:

Er wird wohl krank sein. He’s probably ill. PREDICTION · WOHL · WAHRSCHEINLICH · SICHER
Ich werde es machen! I will do it, I promise! PROMISE / DETERMINATION
Es wird regnen. It is going to rain. OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT · NEWS, WEATHER, CONTRACTS
Du wirst jetzt schlafen! You will go to sleep now! STERN ORDER · PARENT TONE, USE WITH CARE

Two places where people go wrong

Trap 1

Putting werden in every future sentence

English speakers reach for will or going to almost automatically, and so they match it one-to-one with werden and stick it into every sentence. It is not an error, but it sounds heavy and artificial — Germans do not talk like this in daily conversation. (In English you also say “I’m going to the doctor tomorrow”, not “I will go to the doctor tomorrow”. German does the same with the present.)

Morgen werde ich einkaufen gehen und dann werde ich kochen.

Grammatically correct, but nobody talks like this.

Morgen gehe ich einkaufen und dann koche ich.

Tomorrow I’m going shopping, and then I’m cooking.

The rule: if the sentence has a time word (morgen · später · nächste Woche · in zwei Tagen · bald), the Präsens is enough. The future information is already in that word.

Trap 2

Mixing up the different jobs of werden

werden does three different things, and its meaning changes completely depending on what comes after it. The table makes the split clear:

What follows it	Meaning	Example
infinitive	future / guess	Er wird kommen. — He will come.
noun / adjective	to become	Er wird Arzt. — He’s becoming a doctor.
Partizip II	passive	Er wird gefragt. — He is being asked.

Three meanings, one verb. The way not to mix them up when reading is to look at the end of the sentence: infinitive, noun, or Partizip II? The passive side lives on the Passiv page.

The part nobody tells you: wird often means “probably”

Textbooks put “future tense” in the heading and leave it there. In real German, most of the places where you will hear werden + infinitive have nothing to do with the future — it is the same as English “must be” or “will be” used as a guess (“That’ll be the postman.”).

Wo ist Ali? — Er wird im Büro sein.

He’ll be in the office. → right now, a guess.

Sie wird das wissen.

She’ll know that. / She must know that.

Three words strengthen this meaning, and if one of them is in the sentence you should definitely read it as a guess: wohl · wahrscheinlich · sicher.

Er wird wohl krank sein.

He’s probably ill.

The same guess can be built about the past, and that is called Futur II. At B1 you are not expected to produce it, but you do need to recognise it, because it turns up in news language:

Er wird es vergessen haben.

He must have forgotten it. / He’ll have forgotten it.

One last use, and you should be careful with it: a sentence built with werden can turn into a harsh order — Du wirst jetzt sofort schlafen! That is a parent’s tone (“You will go to sleep. Now.”). Said to an adult you don’t know, it lands far too heavily.

Practice now

What you just learned

Er ___ morgen kommen.
Show the answer
wird — The future is built with the auxiliary werden. In the third person singular it is wird.
How do you say “I’m going to the doctor tomorrow” in everyday speech?
Show the answer
Morgen gehe ich zum Arzt. The second sentence is correct too, but it sounds formal. Since morgen is in the sentence, the future is already given — the Präsens is enough.
Wo ist Ali? — Er wird im Büro sein. What does this sentence say?
Show the answer
He’s in the office right now (a guess). — A guess. The question asks “where is he right now?”. Here werden + infinitive is not the future, it is the equivalent of English “he’ll be in the office”.

What to do this week

This topic settles in when you learn when NOT to use it. Five minutes a day:

Write tomorrow’s plan in five sentences — all in the Präsens, no werden at all: Morgen stehe ich früh auf…
Then add one promise sentence and use werden there: Ich werde dich anrufen, versprochen.
Build three guess sentences: Er wird wohl … sein.
Write one weather sentence — that is the language of German news: Morgen wird es regnen.
Once a week, write the three meanings of werden side by side: infinitive · noun · Partizip II.

Next up is Genitiv: the case of written German, how speakers dodge it, and the prepositions wegen · trotz · während.

06Build

Build the sentence yourself

Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.

tap the words
tap the words
tap the words

Tips

Know this before the test

The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.

With a time word, the Präsens is enough
If the sentence has a time word (morgen · später · bald · nächste Woche), the future information is already there; Germans use the Präsens in daily speech. Save werden + infinitive for guesses, promises and formal announcements — and with an adverb that means “right now”, the same pattern turns into a harsh order.
Morgen gehe ich zum Arzt. · Ich werde dich anrufen.
Conjugated werden second, infinitive last
The build is exactly the same as with modal verbs, and werden is irregular: ich werde · du wirst · er wird · wir werden · ihr werdet · sie werden. In a subordinate clause the order changes: the conjugated werden slides to the end and the infinitive stands right before it.
Wir werden das Problem lösen. · …, dass er kommen wird.
wird often means “must be”
The meaning comes from the word that follows: infinitive → future or guess, noun or adjective → “to become”, Partizip II → passive. Most of the places where you will hear this pattern are guesses about the present, not the future; wohl · wahrscheinlich · sicher confirm that reading. The same guess about the past is called Futur II — at B1, recognising it is enough.
Er wird wohl krank sein. · Er wird Arzt. · Er wird gefragt.

Morgen werde ich einkaufen gehen.
Morgen gehe ich einkaufen.
Not wrong grammatically, but it sounds heavy and artificial — Germans don’t talk like this. Because the future feels obligatory, werden gets stuck onto every future sentence; with morgen in the sentence, the Präsens is enough.
Ihr werden euch freuen.
Ihr werdet euch freuen.
werden is irregular. The form werden belongs to wir and sie/Sie; ihr needs werdet.
…, dass er morgen wird kommen.
…, dass er morgen kommen wird.
The main-clause order is being carried into the subordinate clause. After dass the conjugated verb slides to the very end, and the infinitive stands right before it.
Er wird gefragt. (= “He will ask”)
Er wird fragen. (= “He will ask”)
Both sentences are correct German — what is wrong is the reading. A Partizip II at the end builds a passive, not a future: Er wird gefragt = “he is being asked”. For the future you need the infinitive.

0605:30

Test yourself

Tap an answer — we will look at why together.

How do you say “I’m going to the doctor tomorrow” in everyday speech?

I’m going to the doctor tomorrow.

Morgen gehe ich zum Arzt. The second sentence is correct too, but it sounds formal. Since morgen is in the sentence, the future is already given — the Präsens is enough.

Wo ist Ali? — Er wird im Büro sein. What does this sentence say?

The question asks “Where is Ali?”

A guess. The question asks “where is he right now?”. Here werden + infinitive is not the future, it is the equivalent of English “he’ll be in the office”.

Er wird .

He’s becoming a doctor.

Arzt. When a noun follows werden, the meaning is “to become”: he’s becoming a doctor. With an infinitive it would be future or guess.

Er wird krank sein.

krank = sick, ill.

wohl. wohl · wahrscheinlich · sicher pull the sentence firmly toward a guess. This pattern can’t be built with gestern.

Which one means “He must have forgotten”?

He must have forgotten it.

Er wird es vergessen haben. This is Futur II: a guess about a past event. At B1 you are not expected to produce it, but you need to recognise it.

Ich hoffe, dass er morgen .

I hope he’ll come tomorrow.

kommen wird. In a subordinate clause the conjugated verb slides to the very end and the infinitive stands right before it: …, dass er morgen kommen wird. The order wird kommen belongs to a main clause (Er wird morgen kommen.) — it doesn’t work after dass. gekommen is a Partizip II; here you need the infinitive.

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Worksheet

Futur I worksheet

This whole page — tables, traps, examples — as one PDF. Download it, print it, run through it before the exam.

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#GENITIV→

Genitiv

des · der · wegen · trotz

The Genitiv is the German case of possession, and certain prepositions also require it: des Mannes, der Frau, trotz des Regens.

The B1 path · step 9 / 20

Tense & mood