Posted by Although the appropriate usage of seit oder vor in a German sentence is technical, it is not difficult. First of all, they don’t have the same meaning both in English and German which makes it even easier to differentiate between them. Nevertheless, a lot of people still find it challenging to use them correctly. This I think happens because they haven’t really understood what roles German prepositions play in a sentence.
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| 1. Difference between seit and vor 2. How to use seit & vor as temporal prepositions |
In a previous post, I explained the meaning of preposition likewise their different categories with given examples and how sentences are made with them. So, in other to understand this post, i recommend a prior knowledge of what a preposition is.
Difference between SEIT and VOR
Seit which is a temporal preposition, means since in English, is a core Dativ preposition. What this means is that whenever it is used, the noun or pronoun that is directly after them must be written in the Dativ state. Vor on the other hand is a two-case preposition that can sometimes be Akkusativ and other times Dativ which in this case Dativ. It literally means “in front of” or “before” as a two-case preposition but as far as this topic is concerned, it takes on the meaning “ago” in English.
How To Use Seit & Vor As Temporal Prepositions
As temporal prepositions, seit and vor are used for different tenses but while vor can only be used in the past tense such as the Perfekt, Präteritum or Plusquamperfekt to show discontinuation, seit on the other hand is used in the present and present continuous tense to show continuity, i.e when something is still ongoing. This difference can be seen in the sentences below.
| Seit | Vor |
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| 1. Seit zwei Jahren wohnt Silva in Deutschland. (Silva resides in Germany since two year. (She is still in Germany)) | Vor zwei Jahren hatte Silva in Deutschland gewohnt. (Silva resided in Germany two years ago. (She is no more in Germany)) |
| 2. Der Mann steht seit Morgen unter dem Baum. (The man is standing under the tree since morning.) | Der Mann hat vor drei Stunden unter dem Baum gestanden. (The man was standing under the tree three hours ago.) |
| 3. Ich arbeite seit 6 Monaten als Deutschlehrerin. (I work since 6 months as a German teacher.) | Ich arbeitete vor 6 Monaten als Deutschlehrerin. (I worked as a German Teacher 6 months ago.) |
| 4. Wartet ihr seit 6.00 Uhr auf dem Zug, der nach Hamburg fährt? (Are you guys waiting since 6 O’clock for the train that goes to Hamburg?) | Habt ihr vor auf dem Zug gewartet, der 45 Minuten nach Hamburg gefahren ist? (Did you guys wait for the train that drove to Hamburg 45 minutes ago?) |
| 5. Seit einem Jahr bin ich vegetarisch. (I am a vegetarian since one year.) | Vor einem Jahr bin ich vegetarisch geworden. (One year ago I became a vegetarian.) |