Future Tense
Future Tense
German has a dedicated future tense, Futur I (werden + infinitive), but — unlike English, which leans hard on 'will' — everyday German very often just uses the present tense with a time word to talk about the future.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Futur I: werden + infinitive at the end
Ich werde morgen arbeiten. (I will work tomorrow.)
I will work tomorrow.
Futur I is built from werden, conjugated to agree with the subject (werde, wirst, wird, werden, werdet, werden), plus the main verb's infinitive pushed to the very end of the clause — the same 'conjugated auxiliary in position two, infinitive/participle at the end' pattern you've already seen with modal verbs and the Perfekt. It directly parallels English's 'will + base verb', just with the infinitive relocated to clause-final position.
The present tense is the everyday way to talk about the future
Ich fahre morgen nach Berlin. (I'm going to Berlin tomorrow.)
I'm going to Berlin tomorrow.
When a time expression (morgen, nächste Woche, in zwei Jahren) or context already makes it clear an event is upcoming, German speakers overwhelmingly prefer the simple present over Futur I — much more than English, which still usually reaches for 'will' or 'going to'. Reserve werde + infinitive for predictions, promises, and assumptions without a clear time marker, or when you want to add emphasis (Es wird bald regnen — 'It's going to rain soon').
werden also expresses probability, not just future time
Er wird wohl noch schlafen. (He's probably still sleeping.)
He's probably still sleeping.
A second, separate use of werden + infinitive expresses a present-time guess or assumption, often paired with a word like wohl, sicher, or vermutlich — closer in meaning to English 'must be' or 'is probably' than to true future tense. Context (and adverbs like jetzt vs. morgen) usually disambiguates whether werden points to the future or to present-time speculation.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich werde ... machen | ikh VAIR-deh ... MAHKH-en | I will do ... |
| du wirst ... sehen | doo veerst ... ZAY-en | you will see ... |
| er/sie wird ... kommen | air/zee veert ... KOM-en | he/she will come ... |
| wir werden ... reisen | veer VAIR-den ... RY-zen | we will travel ... |
| nächste Woche | NEKH-steh VOKH-eh | next week |
| in Zukunft | in TSOO-koonft | in the future |
| bald | bahlt | soon |
| vermutlich | fair-MOOT-likh | probably |
| es wird regnen | es veert RAYG-nen | it's going to rain |