Ich war gestern müde.
English: I was tired yesterday.
- Language
- German
- Level
- A0
- Unit
- Einfache Zeitangaben
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
Past and future signal words help beginners map language to time without full tense complexity in German.
When to use it
Use these words to introduce basic past/future meaning and simple verb patterns.
Key forms
- Vergangenheit: gestern, letzte Woche, vorher
- Zukunft: morgen, nächste Woche, später
- helper cues: war / hatte / wird
Examples
Hast du mich letzte Nacht angerufen?
English: Did you call me last night?
Wir werden morgen reisen.
English: We will travel tomorrow.
Sie wird später lernen.
English: She will study later.
Tips
- Learn a small core list of time words and reuse them.
- In beginner questions about the past, 'hast' or 'war' is a helpful signal.
- For basic future meaning, 'wird' + infinitive is a strong starter pattern.
Exceptions and edge cases
- Spoken German also uses 'werden' or 'gehen zu' for future plans, usually introduced after basic 'wird' patterns.