Deutsch · A1 · verb · 4 minutes
Werden: present tense
Describe becoming and learn a verb later used for future and passive forms.
Understand the choice
At A1, werden primarily describes a change of state: tired, dark, cold, older. Its present forms later become the auxiliary for future and passive constructions, so precise recall pays off.
Core rule: Werden changes e to i in du wirst and er/sie/es wird.
Notice it in context
Der Himmel wird dunkel, und die Tage werden kürzer.
The sky is getting dark, and the days are getting shorter.
Wird matches singular Himmel; werden matches plural Tage; both introduce changing adjectives.
Du wirst schnell müde.
You get tired quickly.
Wirst shows the du stem change and links to müde.
Wir werden im Sommer achtzehn.
We turn eighteen in summer.
Werden expresses reaching an age.
What to remember
- German uses werden, not machen, for many “get/become” changes.
- Wird and wirst have no e after w.
Common trap: Do not confuse wird with ist: ist describes a state, wird a transition into it.