Look How Far in German

What you'll learn

• Describe your child's growing independence using natural German phrases.
• Use als for a one-time past event or a particular past period.
• Use immer wenn to mean whenever on repeated past occasions.
• Distinguish temporal wenn, meaning when or whenever, from conditional wenn, meaning if.
• Place verbs correctly in sentences beginning with als or wenn.

German phrases for look how far

• Als du letzten Herbst dem Verein beigetreten bist, bin ich mit dir dorthin gegangen.

  When you joined the club last autumn, I walked there with you.

  Joining the club is a single past event, so use als. Dem Verein beitreten means to join the club.

• Immer wenn du letzten Winter zum Training gegangen bist, hast du deine Tasche selbst überprüft.

  Whenever you went to practice last winter, you checked your bag yourself.

  Immer wenn highlights a repeated routine. Selbst means that your child did the checking themselves.

• Als du deinen ersten Vortrag gehalten hast, habe ich hinten gesessen.

  When you gave your first presentation, I sat at the back.

  A first presentation happens only once, so use als. Einen Vortrag halten means to give a presentation.

• Immer wenn du einen Vortrag geübt hast, habe ich dir nach dem Abendessen zugehört.

  Whenever you practised a presentation, I listened after dinner.

  These are repeated practice occasions. Zuhören takes the dative: ich habe dir zugehört means I listened to you.

• Als du neun warst, hast du Hilfe beim Planen deiner Hausaufgaben gebraucht.

  When you were nine, you needed help planning your homework.

  Als also introduces a particular past period, such as being nine. Beim Planen means with planning.

• Immer wenn du letztes Jahr ein großes Projekt hattest, haben wir zusammen einen Plan gemacht.

  Whenever you had a big project last year, we made a plan together.

  Although last year is one time period, the sentence describes repeated occasions within it, so use immer wenn.

• Als du zum ersten Mal bei Maya übernachtet hast, hast du mich vor dem Schlafengehen angerufen.

  When you stayed at Maya's house for the first time, you called me before bed.

  Zum ersten Mal marks a single first experience. Bei Maya übernachten means to stay overnight at Maya's house.

• Immer wenn du letzten Sommer bei Freunden übernachtet hast, hast du deine Sachen selbst gepackt.

  Whenever you stayed with friends last summer, you packed your own things.

  Immer wenn introduces repeated overnight stays. Deine Sachen selbst packen means to pack your things yourself.

Key words

Als: a single past event or period

Use als for something that happened once in the past, or for one particular past period. The period can last a long time: being nine still takes als when you describe that stage as a whole.

Temporal wenn: repeated past occasions

Use wenn for repeated occasions in the past. Adding immer makes the meaning whenever or every time especially clear. A time expression such as last winter does not decide the choice: ask whether you mean one event or repeated occasions.

Word order after als and wenn

Als and wenn introduce subordinate clauses, where the conjugated verb goes at the end. With the perfect tense, the auxiliary comes after the past participle. If this clause comes first, the main clause begins with its conjugated verb immediately after the comma.

Past tenses in everyday conversation

The perfect tense is common for past actions in spoken German. The simple past forms warst and hattest are also very natural in conversation. Choosing als or wenn depends on the time meaning, not on which past tense you use.

More examples

Keep going in German