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Lesson 35: When? Wann, wenn or als?

Vocabulary: "Denglish" — English loanwords in German

Completing this lesson will add to your overall progress:

VocabularyA1+0.8%A2+3%B1+1%
GrammarA1+1%A2+3%B1+3%

How to work with this lesson

  1. Read the rule — understand the logic (5 minutes)
  2. Translate the exercises in writing — check against the key
  3. Say it out loud — slowly, consciously, feeling the difference between wann, wenn and als
  4. Speed up — drill the matrix until it flies out on autopilot

You can build complex sentences with weil, dass, ob, um...zu. Now we add three words that all translate to English "when" — but each in its own zone. Even advanced learners confuse them. You won't.

Part 1: Three German words — one English "when"

In English, "when" works everywhere. Germans don't tolerate that. They have three:

  • wann — a question
  • wenn — present, future, or REPEATED past
  • als — ONE specific event in the past

That's the whole map.

Part 2: The main hack

One time in the past = als. Everything else = wenn. Question = wann.

One slogan. Memorize it. The whole lesson is just illustrations.

Part 3: Wann — the question word

Wann is a question. Only a question. Nothing but a question.

ExampleTranslation
Wann kommst du?When are you coming?
Wann hast du Geburtstag?When is your birthday?
Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommtI don't know when he's coming

The last example is an indirect question. Still wann.

Part 4: Wenn — present, future, repeated past

Wenn = "when" / "if" / "every time when". Three zones:

ZoneExampleTranslation
PresentWenn ich Zeit habe, lese ichWhen I have time, I read
FutureWenn du kommst, kochen wir zusammenWhen you come, we'll cook together
Repeated pastWenn ich als Kind krank war, blieb ich zu HauseWhen I was sick as a kid (= every time), I stayed home

The third zone is the tricky one. It's past, but repeated. Not once — many times. So wenn.

Word order! Wenn and als are subordinating conjunctions. The verb goes to the end: Wenn ich Zeit habe, ... Als ich 10 war, ...

Part 5: Als — one time in the past

Als = "when" for a single past event. Once.

ExampleTranslation
Als ich 10 war, lebte ich in BerlinWhen I was 10, I lived in Berlin
Als ich nach Deutschland kam, sprach ich kein WortWhen I came to Germany, I didn't speak a word
Als ich die Prüfung bestanden habe, war ich so happyWhen I passed the exam, I was so happy

Each of these happened once. Didn't repeat. That's why als.

Trap! "Als ich klein war" — childhood was one continuous period in the past → CORRECT. "Wenn ich klein war" — would mean "every time I was small", which is nonsense → WRONG. Safe rule: one childhood = als. End of discussion.

English speaker note: English "when" doesn't care about repetition. "When I was a kid" = could mean once-as-a-whole or every time. German forces you to decide. If it's a one-shot past event or a single continuous past period (childhood, your time in Berlin, the moment you arrived) — als. If it's a habit that kept happening — wenn.

Next up: That was the last lesson of Block 4. Up next — the test "Graf / Gräfin" (B1). You'll run through all the tenses, complex sentences, and prove you handle German at the B1 level. After the test — Lesson 36: Genitiv (the possessive case). The fourth and final case. You're almost holding the whole set.

Lesson 35: When? Wann, wenn or als? · Deutsch · Glottos Matrix