Life Plans & Wishes
Life Plans & Wishes
Talking about future plans and wishes blends the Futur/present-for-future habits and Konjunktiv II forms from earlier in this level into one practical, exam-favorite topic.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
vorhaben + zu-infinitive: to plan to
Ich habe vor, nächstes Jahr umzuziehen.
I plan to move next year.
vorhaben is a separable verb (vor-haben) meaning 'to plan/intend', usually followed by a zu-infinitive clause. Like all separable verbs, vor splits off and moves to the end in a main clause (Ich habe vor...), while the zu-infinitive of the planned action closes the sentence (...umzuziehen).
Ich würde gerne... for wishes, not just hypotheticals
Ich würde gerne im Ausland leben.
I would love to live abroad.
The würde + infinitive construction from the Konjunktiv II lesson does double duty here, expressing an aspirational wish rather than a strict hypothetical — much like English 'I would love to...' is really a polite way of stating a desire, not a genuine conditional.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| vorhaben | FOR-hah-ben | to plan/intend |
| Ich habe vor, zu... | ikh HAH-beh for, tsoo | I plan to... |
| das Ziel | dahs tseel | the goal |
| der Traum | dair trowm | the dream |
| Ich würde gerne... | ikh VUER-deh GAIR-neh | I would love to... |
| hoffen, dass | HOF-en, dahs | to hope that |
| Ich hoffe, dass... | ikh HOF-eh, dahs | I hope that... |
| sich etwas wünschen | zikh ET-vahs VUEN-shen | to wish for something |
| die Zukunft | dee TSOO-koonft | the future |
| verwirklichen | fair-VEERK-likh-en | to realize/make come true |