“Ich gehe morgen ins Kino.” hay “Ich werde morgen ins Kino gehen.”?

When do we use the present tense, and when do we use the future tense to talk about something in the future? Today's article will clear up this question.

Let's find out!!!

1. The simple present tense can be used quite flexibly in German, especially in spoken language. The simple present describes events and actions taking place at the present moment. But the simple present is also frequently used to talk about the future when describing an event or action that will certainly take place. Example:

Anna fährt morgen mit dem Rad zur Arbeit.

(Anna will ride her bike to work tomorrow.)

Peter geht in vier Wochen in Urlaub.

(Peter will go on vacation in four weeks.)

→ Here, the present tense is used to announce something that you will certainly do in the future. The future tense can be used in this case; however, with the present tense, the degree of certainty about the event is higher.

2. The present tense can be used when talking about something that is repeated regularly.

Jeden Montag geht Lila in den Supermarkt.

(Lila goes to the supermarket every Monday.)

Die Zeitschrift erscheint wöchentlich.

(The magazine is published weekly.)

3. In fact, there are two future tenses, Futur I and Futur II. However, we mainly use only the simple future Futur I to express an event or action that will happen in the future but is not certain.

In drei Wochen werde ich aus Deutschland zurückkommen.

(In three weeks I will come back from Germany.)

Du wirst diesen Mann nie wieder treffen.

(You will never meet this man again.)

4. The future tense is used to describe intentions, plans, promises and commands.

Meine Eltern werden nach Berlin fliegen.

(My parents will fly to Berlin.)

→ My parents plan to fly to Berlin.

Ich glaube, es wird später regnen.

(I think it will rain later.)

→ This is only a guess, because the simple future is used in the clause that follows the verb glauben.

!!! Guesses are usually expressed with particles (Partikeln) such as doch, wohl or with modal verbs.