This German Verb Has a True Super Power - Super Easy German 302

Hello everyone, some verbs in German are used extremely frequently, for example, *haben* and *sein*. It's virtually impossible without these verbs. But there's still a third verb, which you might not have had on your radar. Take a look at the following examples. Janusz Barth is being shaved. And which direction does the C mean? I want to become a general practitioner. My son has his birthday today, and today I became a mother nine years ago—that is love. You've seen it; today's topic is the verb werden. And this verb also has a real superpower. You actually need it all the time. Not only for the future tense, but also for other grammatical forms, such as the passive. Today we're going to show you all possible forms of "werden." And for that, we use excerpts from our Easy German Street Interviews. Here we go. First of all, it's about "werden" as a main verb. A full verb means that the verb stands alone in the sentence, without any other verbs. When "werden" is used as a main verb, it is followed by a noun, an adjective, or a number. And one uses it to express a change or development. Take a look at the following example. Janusz turns 63 today. Giving someone's age is a typical example of "werden" used as a main verb. However, one can also use an adjective or talk about career aspirations afterward. Look here. And which direction do you want to pull? I want to become a general practitioner. I also have two bicycles that I alternate between, so it's not quite so boring. Let us now look at a few sentences with "werden" used as a main verb in the past tense. "Being" is actually one of those verbs, of the few verbs that one also regularly uses in the past tense (Präteritum) in everyday German, and not necessarily in the perfect tense. Take a look at this video clip here, where we asked people about their self-image. Oh, it was actually getting better. Or here, where we discussed working hours with the people. When various projects came together, it already went up to 60, 70 hours per week. But then I also got sick afterward and needed vacation time. And here's another example from a Super Easy German episode. As we were recording this video, it kept getting darker and windier, and it has now started to rain as well. "Will" is also frequently used in the Perfekt, and it is used with the irregular Partizip II form "geworden." You can see this in this example. My son has his birthday today, and today I became a mother nine years ago. That is love. Or here, where people have discussed the differences between East and West Germany. I mean, we've grown up here, since 1968, in this neighborhood, in this street, in Oderberger. Or here, where it was about the time after school. I've become very independent because I suddenly had to take care of my own affairs. Before we go on, one more thing. One can also become a full verb in the future tense. For example, I will grow up. There one has to become twice. Once will be used as an auxiliary verb, and then at the end will be used again as a main verb in the infinitive. And "is" as an auxiliary verb is a good keyword. That is precisely the next thing we are going to discuss now. When it is combined with another verb in the infinitive, you use werden as an auxiliary verb. And a very common example of this in German is the future tense, where you have it in the conjugated form and then at the end another verb in the infinitive. Take a look at the example where we talked to people about the European election. I will not be. I observe it from afar. And here is an example from another video. To find out, Kari and Janusz will now immediately take the train to Frankfurt am Main. And I will drive the same route by car. And here, where it was about retirement. I don't think I'll ever retire. I believe I'll work for a very long time. It's good to know that in most cases, the present tense in German is sufficient to talk about the future. We use the future tense, but when we want to talk about concrete plans or intentions. If you're feeling a bit confused right now by all the verb forms you've heard today, Then I can recommend the EasyGerman membership to you. As an EasyGerman member, you'll receive interactive worksheets for this video and all our other videos. And with that, you can really deepen your grammar knowledge once again. How you can become a member is available under the link found below in the description. Let's move on to the future perfect. We use the Future II when speaking about something that will have been completed in the future. And this verb form is so rare in German that we couldn't even find examples of it in our videos. But an example would be, in 10 minutes you will have finished watching this video. So you have another conjugated form of "werden" there then. Then you have a verb in the past participle and then another verb in the infinitive, either "haben" or "sein." Now let's continue with the passive voice. And the verb "werden" is truly essential if you want to form passive constructions. There are four different forms of "werden," only for the passive. Rather, depending on the tense. And now we will show you an example in the passive present tense. Or here, when Cari and Janusz drank German beer in New York. Olli just told me they have a partnership with the Hofbräuhaus and the beer brewed there. Also, the beer from Hofbräuhaus is delivered here. In the passive past tense, you then need the past tense form of "werden." You can see this in this example, where Cari talked about the popularity of asparagus in Germany. This tradition would be passed down from generation to generation. Or in this video about Vienna. The city of Vienna has just been chosen once again as the world's most livable city in the past year. And now it's getting wild. In the passive perfect, there is a very specific form of "werden," namely "worden." Also, instead of the usual Participle II form, here one uses "worden." Namely, because otherwise one would have two Partizip II forms starting with "ge" in succession. And that might sound a bit funny. Take a look at the example from our video where we talked about political parties. The next party is the Greens. The Greens were founded many years ago as a party where people said they were all ecologists and hippies. You have seen that instead of "gegründet geworden," one says "gegründet worden." Also, the prefix ge- is, so to speak, lost in the process. Now we have another example for you. During a city tour of Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie. Well, everyone knows the place, Checkpoint Charlie. Border crossing for the Allies, foreigners, diplomats, and a transfer point for spies. Especially in the 1960s, a James Bond film was shot here. Please note carefully: the form "worden" should not be confused with the form "geworden." You only really need it in the passive perfect and the passive pluperfect. And for the passive past perfect, we'll also show you one more example. Here, a woman told us how she found her wallet again. Yes, that had then been stolen and thrown away in Birkenstraße. And there I found it again. There is also the form Passive Future. For example, the video will be filmed next week. This form is quite rare, but occurs occasionally. By the way, we once made a whole video about the passive voice. And we'll link that for you right up here. Can even function like a modal verb. It does not express the future, but rather the speaker's speculation. It works grammatically just like a sentence in the future tense. But then we need to examine the context. And then we see, ah, actually this is about a hypothesis. Take a look at the following excerpt. We asked the people what they do on the weekend. Also, I think most people will probably start by sleeping in on weekends. That will probably be the case for most. Or here, where Cari talked about German language errors. And these initial tips are specifically for people who speak English as their native language. But they will surely also be useful for the rest of you. Now let's take a look at the subjunctive mood as well. One needs the subjunctive mood to speak about hypothetical situations. or even to sound polite. And to form the subjunctive mood, we often also need the verb "to become." Namely, combined with a verb in the infinitive. We need the form would. Take a look at the following example. Pay attention to the pronunciation. The Konjunktiv II form is pronounced differently from the Präteritum form would. Dignity and was. Now take a look at this example as well, where we asked the people who they would like to meet. Janusz, imagine we travel to the past. Who would you like to meet? Or here, when we asked the people, what they would do if a friend arrives late. Yes, I'd just leave if no one comes and I can't reach anyone. I am repeating once again, what forms of "werden" are there? and what you need them for. We start with the verb "werden" conjugated in the present tense. There, for example, you have "werden" as a main verb. I will be 32 years old. Then we will have used as auxiliary verb in Future 1. We will go on vacation. Are used as auxiliary verbs in the future tense 2. You have hopefully enjoyed the video. And then we still have to be in the passive present. The video will be published. Then we had conjugated in the past tense. There we had become as a full verb. For example, the weather got better. And we had been in the past passive. This video was filmed. Then you learned the past participle form. Done. We use them only in the perfect and the pluperfect. as full verbs For example, this video has hopefully become interesting. Or the weather had suddenly become worse. Then you have also learned about this special form. You really only need it in the passive. Namely in the passive perfect. For example, the house has been built. And in the passive past perfect. For example, the test had been written. And then you also saw how one would become in that form can form the subjunctive. For example, I would like to get to know you. We hope you enjoyed this overview of the verb "werden." and also helped. And I would recommend that you not let yourselves be intimidated by this verb. It is not a bad verb. It even has a real superpower, because you need it all the time. We look forward to seeing you in the next grammar video. Good job and see you soon!