How to use clauses and conjunctions of time in German?

In German, clauses of time (Temporalsätze) are phrases that describe when something happens or happened. They are introduced by words like bevor(before) or seit(since) which we call conjunctions of time, and they will always contain a verb. For example:

Clauses of time are a type of subordinate clause, which means that, in German, the word order is a bit different from that of the main clause. Let’s look more closely at the different ways to build German time clauses!

Time clauses (sometimes called “temporal clauses”) that broadly place the main action of a sentence in time. They can tell you: when the action happened (a point in time) or how long the action lasts (its duration). Crucially, a time clause will always contain a verb!

In German, time clauses answer questions like wann(when), bis wann(until when), seit wann(since when) or wie lange(how long).

The exact meaning of a particular clause of time depends on the conjunction of time that introduces it. We’ll go through the different conjunctions of time below, but first let’s have a look at time clauses a bit more broadly.

In German, conjunctions of time are the words that introduce clauses of time. The word you use to introduce the clause will affect the clause’s meaning, just like “before the party started,” “after the party started,” and “since the party started,” don’t mean the same thing in English. Let’s look at some of these conjunctions of time in German:

• ‘bis’

  Bis(until) is used to introduce the time when something will end. The main clause, therefore, talks about an ongoing action, and the subordinate clause gives its stopping point.

  time clause

  Sie saßen auf einem Hügel und beobachteten die Tiere, bis die Sonne unterging.

  They sat on a hill and watched the animals until the sun set.

  Important

  Be careful not to confuse the temporal conjunction bis(until) with its use in the complex preposition bis zu(up to)!

  time clause

  Bis die Sonne aufgeht, schlafen die Freunde in ihren Zelten.

  The friends sleep in their tents until the sun rises.

  complex preposition

  Dann wandern sie bis zum nächsten Dorf.

  Then they hike to the next village.

• ‘bevor’ and ‘ehe’

  Bevor and ehe both mean “before” are used when the main clause happens first, and then the time clause. The two situations aren’t simultaneous: the main clause is over when the time clause starts.

  time clause

  Bevor / Ehe die Sonne ganz untergegangen war, hatten sie ihre Zelte aufgebaut.

  Before the sun fully set, they had erected their tents.

  Bevor and ehe have the same meaning, but ehe is not as common in day-to-day German anymore, you will see and hear bevor more often.

• ‘nachdem’

  Nachdem is the opposite of bevor. It’s used when the time clause happens first and then the main clause. This also is used for non-simultaneous actions.

  time clause

  Nachdem das Lagerfeuer ausgegangen war, gingen sie schlafen.

  After the campfire had gone out, they went to sleep.

• ‘sobald’ and ‘sowie’

  The words sobald and sowie mean “as soon as.” Like nachdem, they are used when the time clause comes first and then the main clause, but with these words one happens directly after the other.

  time clause

  Sobald / Sowie es wieder hell wurde, frühstückten sie und setzen ihre Wanderung fort.

  As soon as it got light out, they had breakfast and continued their hike.

  Important

  Be careful not to confuse sowie(as soon as) with the other sowie(as well as), a synonym of und(and).

  time clause

  Sowie sie im Dorf angekommen waren, gingen sie in einen Supermarkt.

  As soon as they arrived at the village they went to a supermarket.

  "as well as"

  Dort kauften sie Lebensmittel sowie Getränke.

  There they purchased groceries as well as drinks.

• ‘während’

  Während means “while,” and we use it when two actions go on at the same time.

  time clause

  Während sie einen Bach überquerten, bekamen sie nasse Füße.

  While they crossed a brook they got wet feet.

• ‘solange’ (as long as) / simultaneity

  Solangemeans “as long as.” Like während we use it with two actions that take place at the same time, but this word is used if the end of the action in the time clause will trigger the end of the action in the main clause.

  time clause

  Solange das Lagerfeuer brannte, war es hell und warm.

  As long as the campfire was burning, it was bright and warm.

• ‘seit’ and ‘seitdem’

  Seit and seitdem mean “since.” The clause they introduce represents the starting point of the main clause, but also implies that the main clause is still continuing.

  time clause

  Seit / seitdem sie jedes Jahr gemeinsam wanderten, wurden sie noch bessere Freunde.

  Since they started hiking together every year, they have become even better friends.

• ‘wenn’ and ‘als’: What’s the difference?

  Wenn and als both roughly mean “when,” but we’ve saved the best for last! From experience, the distinction between wenn and als can cause difficulties for German learners, especially when their first language is English. Let’s clear this up once and for all, shall we?

  Both wenn and als introduce a time clause that happens at the same time as the main clause. Here’s the difference though:

  • Use als to introduce a state of being in the past or that something happened once in the past!

    time clause

    Als wir Studenten waren, gingen wir jeden Freitagabend zum Volleyballspielen.

    When we were students, we would play volleyball every Friday evening.

    → “when” + state of being in the past, using sein(to be)

    Als ich die Uni beendete, begann ich mich auch für andere Sportarten zu interessieren.

    When I graduated from university, I also started to become interested in other types of sports.

    → “when” + single past moment, a finished situation

  • Use wennto introduce a moment in the present or future or for a recurring event in the past. You can think of these as cases where you might use “whenever” in English. Let’s look at some examples to make this clearer:

    time clause

    Wenn wir uns heute an die Studentenzeit zurückerinnern, müssen wir oft lachen.

    When we remember our time as students today, we have to laugh often.

    → “when(ever)” + present tense

    Wenn wir Volleyball spielten, hatten wir immer viel Spaß.

    When we played Volleyball, we always had a lot of fun.

    → “when(ever)” + recurring past action

  We can summarize the difference between wenn and als with this handy table:

  	als	wenn
  Single event in the present		- ✅-
  Recurring events in present		- ✅-
  Single past event	- ✅-
  Past state with sein	- ✅-
  Recurring past event		- ✅-
  Single future event		- ✅-
  Recurring future event		- ✅-

  Tip

  Look out for these time markers that are often used with either single past events (with als) or recurring past events (with wenn):

  • Single past event (als) → gestern(yesterday), letztes Mal(last time), letzte Woche(last week), letzten Montag(last Monday), vor einem Jahr(one year ago), vorgestern(the day before yesterday), etc.

  • Recurring past event (wenn) → oft(often), immer dann/wenn(always when), jedes Mal(every time), jeden Tag(every day), etc.

    → You can learn more of these from our post on how to express frequency in German!

  Important

  Not to make things worse, but we have to point out another word that adds to the confusion: the question word wann(when). This word is only used to ask when something is happening:

  Wann wollt ihr wieder wandern gehen?

  When do you want to go hiking again?

  Ich frage mich, wann ihr wieder wandern gehen wollt.

  I am wondering when you want to go hiking again.

  The only case where you can use wann is to ask a question!

In today’s article we discussed time clauses and conjunctions of time in German. Here are the major take-aways:

• Time clauses describe when or for how long some action lasted. They are introduced by a conjunction of time and always contain a verb.

• Time clauses in German usually come at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.

• Time clauses are subordinate clauses, so the verb comes at the end.

• Finally, remember this basic list of German conjunctions of time:

  German	English
  bis	until
  bevor	before
  ehe	before (old-fashioned)
  nachdem	after
  sobald	as soon as
  sowie	as soon as
  während	while
  solange	as long as
  seit	since
  seitdem	since
  wenn	when(ever)
  als	when

Are you ready to deepen your knowledge on temporal clauses in German? Head on over to our activities on German conjunctions of time to get your practice started!