All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| wenn | if; when; whenever | Conditions and repeated or nonpast events | Subordinating conjunction; finite verb last. |
| wann | at what time | Direct and indirect time questions | Question adverb; indirect-question finite verb last. |
| als | when in a single past situation | One past event or period | Temporal subordinating conjunction; finite verb last. |
wenn
Meaning and usage: Wenn introduces a condition, or a time at which something happens. In temporal use, it fits present and future situations and repeated past events. Immer wenn highlights whenever. A one-off future event still takes wenn, so “once means als” is incomplete. First decide whether the sentence asks for a time or states a condition/time relationship.
Grammar: Subordinating conjunction: finite verb normally at clause end. If the wenn-clause comes first, the main clause follows with its finite verb before the subject.
Wenn der Kurs endet, gehen wir zusammen zum Bahnhof.
When the course ends, we go to the station together.
wann
Meaning and usage: Wann asks which time is meant. It remains wann when the question is embedded in another sentence: Ich weiß nicht, wann … . That indirect question does not become wenn merely because its verb goes to the end. Other constructions with wann exist, but the direct-versus-indirect question pattern is the most useful starting point.
Grammar: Interrogative adverb. Direct question: Wann beginnt der Kurs? Indirect question: … wann der Kurs beginnt, with finite verb last.
Weißt du, wann der nächste Bus fährt?
Do you know when the next bus leaves?
als
Meaning and usage: Temporal als locates something within a particular past situation. That can be an event yesterday or a long phase such as childhood. The situation is presented as one past setting rather than repeatedly occurring occasions. Als also has comparison and role uses, such as größer als and als Lehrerin; those belong to other constructions.
Grammar: Temporal subordinating conjunction: finite verb normally last. A preceding als-clause occupies the main clause’s first position.
Als ich in Köln wohnte, fuhr ich oft mit der Straßenbahn.
When I lived in Cologne, I often took the tram.
Overlap and context
In the last example, the tram journeys repeat, but the Köln-residence phase is one past setting, so als is appropriate. Wenn ich früher meine Tante besuchte describes repeated visits. Look at the situation named by the subordinate clause, rather than counting every action anywhere in the sentence.
Common mistakes
- Use wann in an indirect time question: Ich frage, wann du kommst. It asks for a time, not a condition.
- A future event does not use temporal als simply because it will happen once. Use wenn.
- Keep verb-final order in ordinary wenn/als subordinate clauses, and in indirect questions with wann.
Memory aid: Ask a time with wann; set a condition or repeated/nonpast time with wenn; frame one past situation with als.
Try it
Complete: ___ ich gestern die Tür öffnete, stand ein Paket davor.
Show the answer
Als
The subordinate clause describes one specific past event yesterday, not a repeated occasion.