First, we would like to congratulate you on your quest to learn more about the German language as we know how daunting it is to study its past and future tense. Most books that promise to make listening and speaking in German easy are difficult to understand and leave you frustrated. Contrary to your past experiences with complicated approaches to learning, we put everything into perspective. As you explore this course, you will find the language simple to understand because it has a learner-centred approach. Discover how to use the German past and future tenses effectively to eloquently converse in the language. A quick grasp of its tenses will help you build confidence and sharpen your ability to describe previous and future events in the language.
Next, you will learn to express yourself with simple past sentences like ‘I was at home’. Then, you will consider future tenses such as ‘I will go home’. Familiarise yourself with the key terms used to describe the past and future, including ‘werde’ and ‘war’, which mean ‘will’ and ‘was’ respectively. The three forms of German past times, which includes the past simple (Präteritum), present perfect (Perfekt) and past perfect (Plusquamperfekt), will also be explained. Discover why the Plusquamperfekt is rarely used, even by native speakers, as it is the form commonly used in High German academia. Master the first and second past forms of the German language before we highlight some interesting aspects of the Plusquamperfekt.
The past tense of German expressions must begin with any of these two terms: Präteritum and Perfekt. The ‘prä’ in ‘Präteritum’ comes from the Latin word ‘Primis’, which means ‘first’. As such, you will learn about the verbs used in the Präteritum form and those used in the Perfekt form. We outline the differences between the two forms of verbs used and teach you the future tense, reported speech, passive times and modal verbs used in German. By completing this course, you will be able to develop your communication skills and enjoy more authentic travel experiences with better career opportunities. So why wait? Start learning now!
