The question word wann is used solely in forming direct or indirect questions. This usage of “als” refers to a single block of time in the past: one’s time as a student, one’s childhood, etc. Und wenn du etwas im … “als” can also occur in the present tense, as long as simultaneous events are occurring in a narrative setting: “Als der Zug ankommt, sieht Heidi schon ihren Vater.”. When English speakers want to say “when” in German, it’s hard to know which word to choose. The alternative whith "als wenn" is colloquial, and maybe not compretely correct. When used to express time relationships (like the English word “when”), als, wenn, and wann have quite different meanings, and they are not at all interchangeable. Als ich meine Mathematikprüfung geschrieben habe, war ich sehr nervös. als vs wenn vs wann The video above is a German immersion version of the differences between als, wenn, and wann. © 2020 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. The speaker in the second sentence is simply saying what will happen in the future, while in the first sentence, there is a condition, which may not be met. The Present And The Future. Und wenn du das gemacht hast, räum bitte dein Zimmer auf.“ Peter: „Hmm, ich weiß noch nicht, wann ich mit meinen vielen Hausaufgaben fertig werde.“ Mutter: „Als ich dich vorhin gefragt habe, hast du gesagt, dass du keine Hausaufgaben aufhast. When (at what time / at what point in time) he plans to come, he did not say (to me). Thank you so much for this! When(ever) I visited my grandma, we always baked cookies together. Hello, I would suggest to use “falls” for your first sentence. When(ever) I was sick, I stayed at home. So oftentimes when you use wenn in the present, you will be able to substitute it by “if”. Such a clear explanation! Ich komme dich besuchen, wenn … A correct alternative would be "Er tut immer so, als wäre er Chef" – Beta Mar 3 '17 at 12:08 I think it's like in English ("as if" vs … When(ever) he was hungry, he always went to the fast food place on the corner. You are right that using the word wenn in this case leads to the kind of ambiguity your two sentences propose. When is the bus coming? Below is a summarized English version of that. I’d like to explore the issue further and give a simple Q & A procedure for learners to follow to figure out which word to choose. Wenn der Film zu Ende ist, machen wir das Licht wieder an. Wann bist du heute morgen aufgestanden? The speaker doesn’t know at what time or at what point in time. In this week’s Wort der Woche post on the word als, I touched upon the distinction between the words als, wenn, wann.. I’d like to explore the issue further and give a simple Q & A procedure for learners to follow to figure out which word to choose. Technically, it can also begin a relative clause where the wann-clause more clearly defines a temporal reference. When English speakers want to say “when” in German, it’s hard to know which word to choose. In the case of “wenn” the verb also goes to the end, the same way, as we have discussed it for “als” in the previous paragraph. Wenn wir genug Geld gespart haben, fahren wir in Urlaub. Actually, let’s look at the two back to back, that’ll really make it clear. The word is a placeholder. The action in the wenn-clause is something that lies in the future and therefore there IS a possibility that it will not happen. The first sentence tells us what always happened on my visits. The second sentence covers only repeated occurrences in the past, while the third refers to a particular single event in the past, in this case a particular bout with an illness. In the present, wenn gets used as a conditional statement. Or you could drop the subordinate clause altogether and say something like “Zum Schulabschluss kauft mir mein Vater ein Fahrrad.”. The first two, als and wenn, are subordinating conjunctions as described in the previous section, and they are each used for different senses of time. A big thank you. The reason why people confuse “wenn” and “als” is that both of them can have the meaning of “when” in English. Complete each sentence with the correct conjunction. Since a person is only small for a single, continuous time, the clause “____ ich klein war” refers to a single occurence. When would you like to visit us? Otherwise, it’s really good. If I finish high school, my father will buy me a bike. [or:] If I am sick, I stay at home. When she was a student she was always well prepared. Ich weiß nicht, wann der Bus kommt. Required fields are marked *. Wisst ihr, wann ihr uns besuchen möchtet? Sag mir, wann du heute morgen aufgestanden bist. als vs wenn vs wann The video above is a German immersion version of the differences between als, wenn, and wann. I don’t know when the bus is coming. When I visited my grandma (that one time), we baked cookies together. Do you know when (at what time / at what point in time) you would like to visit us? Wenn ich krank war, blieb ich zu Hause. When the movie is over we will turn the light back on. Immer wenn ich meine Oma besuchte, haben wir zusammen Kekse gebacken. here we are in the past but the event is not one time due to the word “viel”.so what will be there? I will visit you when I am ready. When we arrived in the evening all of the rooms were already occupied. Teaching German days, months, and seasons, Teaching “Die Hälfte der Deutschen ist zu dick”, Teaching “Die Schweiz auf Isolationskurs”, Teaching “Wenn Russland kein Gas mehr liefert”, “Schleswig-Holstein in Kürze” – Video with activities, German modal verbs – Past, present, & future, Wort der Woche: The German conjunction als, About | FTC Disclosure Statement | Privacy Policy. In this week’s Wort der Woche post on the word als, I touched upon the distinction between the words als, wenn, wann. The first two, als and wenn, are subordinating conjunctions as described in the previous section, and they are each used for different senses of time. Do you know when to use als, wenn, or wann? That focuses more on the condition, that I have to finish school in order to get a bike. But you can have someone reading those german questions in English in the back ground and also English translation written underneath. When used to express time relationships (like the English word “when”), als, wenn, and wann have quite different meanings, and they are not at all interchangeable.
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