Here are some German expressions related to time.
Specifying the day
| vorgestern | the day before yesterday |
| gestern | yesterday |
| heute | today |
| morgen | tomorrow |
| übermorgen | the day after tomorrow |
Specifying the time of day
| gestern Abend | yesterday evening or last night (referring to the evening) |
| letzte Nacht | last night (referring to the night-time) |
| heute Abend | this evening or tonight |
| morgen Abend | tomorrow evening or tomorrow night |
| am Morgen | in the morning |
| am Nachmittag | in the afternoon |
| am Abend | in the evening |
| gestern Morgen | yesterday morning |
| gestern Nachmittag | yesterday afternoon |
| gestern Abend | yesterday evening |
| heute Morgen | this morning |
| heute Nachmittag | this afternoon |
| heute Abend | this evening |
| morgen früh | tomorrow morning (can refer to any time until around 10am) |
| morgen Vormittag | tomorrow morning (can refer to any time until noon) |
| morgen Nachmittag | tomorrow afternoon |
| morgen Abend | tomorrow evening |
Specifying the week, month, or year
| letzte Woche | last week |
| letzten Monat | last month |
| letztes Jahr | last year |
| diese Woche | this week |
| diesen Monat | this month |
| dieses Jahr | this year |
| nächste Woche | next week |
| nächsten Monat | next month |
| nächstes Jahr | next year |
| German phrase guide | |
|---|---|
| Page 6 of 7 | |
|
➔
Family and relationships |
Telling the time
➔ |
Other time expressions
| jetzt | now |
| dann | then |
| sofort or direkt | straight away |
| bald | soon |
| früher | earlier |
| später | later |
| vorhin | a short time ago |
| vor fünf Minuten | five minutes ago |
| vor einer Stunde | an hour ago |
| vor einer Woche | a week ago |
| vor zwei Wochen | two weeks ago |
| vor einem Monat | a month ago |
| vor einem Jahr | a year ago |
| vor einer langen Zeit | a long time ago |
| in zehn Minuten | in ten minutes' time |
| in einer Stunde | in an hour's time |
| in einer Woche | in a week’s time |
| in zehn Tagen | in ten days’ time |
| in drei Wochen | in three weeks’ time |
| in zwei Monaten | in two months’ time |
| in zehn Jahren | in ten years’ time |
| am Tag davor | the previous day |
| in der vorigen Woche | the previous week |
| im vorigen Monat | the previous month |
| im vorigen Jahr | the previous year |
| am folgenden Tag | the following day |
| in der folgenden Woche | the following week |
| im folgenden Monat | the following month |
| im folgenden Jahr | the following year |
Duration
Duration in German is sometimes expressed using the word für, as in the following examples:
| ich habe sechs Monate in Kanade gelebt | I lived in Canada for six months |
| ich habe hier neun Jahre gearbeitet | I've worked here for nine years |
| ich gehe morgen für zwei Wochen nach Frankreich | I'm going to France tomorrow for two weeks |
| wir sind lange geschwommen | we were swimming for a long time |
Frequency
| nie | never |
| selten | rarely |
| gelegentlich | occasionally |
| manchmal | sometimes |
| oft oder häufig | often or frequently |
| gewöhnlich oder normalerweise | usually or normally |
| immer | always |
| jeden Tag oder täglich | every day or daily |
| jede Woche oder wöchentlich | every week or weekly |
| jeden Monat oder monatlich | every month or monthly |
| jedes Jahr oder jährlich | every year or yearly |
| German phrase guide | |
|---|---|
| Page 6 of 7 | |
|
➔
Family and relationships |
Telling the time
➔ |
Sound is available for all the German phrases on this page — simply click on any phrase to hear it.
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