Posted by “If someone needs to express themselves about an event that has not happened yet, how do they make it possible in German?” This is one of many questions that beginners who are learning the German language often find themselves asking. Well, this expression can be made in several ways such as with the adverbs of time and temporal prepositions of TeKaMoLo as well as the Futur I.
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| 1. What is Futur I? 2. How to form the Futur I in German 3. The Futur I with modal verbs |
What Is Futur I?
The Futur I which is known as the simple future tense in English is one out of several other ways of making expressions of events that are yet to happen or still in the future. This future could range from being as close as a minute away or to as far as many years to come.
The use of the Futur I in German is to express assumptions or uncertainty and possible future intentions. Unlike the Futur II, it expresses certainty that the event will occur even though it is without any form of guarantee unlike the present tense.
How To Form The Futur I
The Futur I in German is formed with the auxiliary verb werden together with the infinitive form of the supported verb which is the actual intention i.e werden + … verb infinitive. Werden as the auxiliary is translated to “will” or “going to” in English and must be conjugated to the subject while the infinitive verb goes to the end of the sentence. This order can of course be altered depending on whether the sentence is a Fragesatz, Hauptsatz or Nebensatz. See the examples below!
| Sentence type | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| Fragesatz | Wird sie etwas kochen? | Will she cook something? |
| Hauptsatz | Sie wird etwas kochen. | She will cook something. |
| Nebensatz | 1. Weißt du, ob sie etwas kochen wird? 2. Du weißt, dass sie etwas kochen wird. | Do you know whether she will cook something? You know that she will cook something. |
The Futur I with Modal Verbs
In addition to the infinitive verb, the use of modal verbs displaces the intended supported verb one place backwards from its fixed position. See the examples below.
| Sentence type | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| Fragesatz | Werde ich noch nach Frankreich reisen können? Werdet ihr euer Haus verkaufen müssen, bevor ihr nach Spanien umzieht? | Will I still be able to travel to France? Will you guys have to sell your house before you relocate to Spain? |
| Hauptsatz | Ich werde noch nach Frankreich reisen können. Ihr werdet euer Haus verkaufen müssen, bevor ihr nach Spanien umzieht? | I will still be able to travel to France. You guys will have to sell your house before you relocate to Spain? |
| Nebensatz | 1. Wisst ihr, ob ihr euer Haus verkaufen müssen werdet, bevor ihr nach Spanien umzieht? 2. Du weißt, dass ihr euer Haus verkaufen müssen werdet, bevor ihr nach Spanien umzieht? | Do you know if you guys will have to sell your house before you relocate to Spain? You know that you guys will have to sell your house before you relocate to Spain? |