als vs. wenn
als vs. wenn
English 'when' covers every past, present, and future occasion, but German splits that single word into als (one specific past event) and wenn (everything else) — a distinction that trips up English speakers at every level, not just beginners.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
als: one single event in the past
Als ich fünf war, zog meine Familie nach Berlin.
When I was five, my family moved to Berlin.
als is reserved for a single, one-time occurrence that already happened — a specific moment or period in the past, never repeated. English 'when' does this job too, but also covers the two other categories below, so English speakers default to wenn out of habit because it looks and sounds closer to 'when'. That instinct is exactly backwards for one-time past events: als is correct here, not wenn.
wenn: repeated or habitual events, in any time frame
Wenn ich früher zur Schule ging, sah ich oft meine Freunde.
Whenever I went to school, I often saw my friends.
wenn covers repeated or habitual past events — situations better translated 'whenever' than 'when' in English, which gives a useful mental test: if you can swap in 'whenever' without changing the meaning, use wenn, not als. (Als ich fünf war describes a single, non-repeatable stretch of being five, so 'whenever' would sound wrong there — a good check in the other direction too.)
wenn: also every present and future 'when' or 'if'
Wenn ich Zeit habe, rufe ich dich an.
When/if I have time, I'll call you.
For anything in the present or future, wenn is always correct — als can never be used outside the past tense. wenn additionally covers conditional 'if', which English keeps as a separate word entirely; German doesn't distinguish 'when I have time' from 'if I have time' grammatically, both are wenn, and context resolves the difference.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| als (einmalig, Vergangenheit) | ahls | when (one-time, past) |
| wenn (wiederholt / Gegenwart / Zukunft) | ven | when(ever) / if |
| als ich klein war | ahls ikh kline vahr | when I was little |
| als wir uns kennenlernten | ahls veer oons KEN-en-lairn-ten | when we met (each other) |
| wenn es regnet | ven es RAYG-net | when/if it rains |
| immer wenn | IM-er ven | every time (that) |
| damals | DAH-mahls | back then / at that time |
| jedes Mal, wenn | YAY-des mahl, ven | every time that |