How to Use ‘seit’ and ‘vor’ to Talk About Time in German? 🤔🇩🇪

Hallo Leute! 👋

Today, we are going to answer another question we received from Sara: How do I correctly use seit and vor to talk about time?

This blog will help you understand how to use each word correctly. 📚📝

Explanation:

Using seit for Ongoing Actions:

If you want to speak about an action that started in the past and is still ongoing, you use seit.

For example: Ich lebe seit drei Jahren hier. (I have been living here for three years.)

This case is similar to when we use the present perfect in English. 🎓

Using vor for Specific Past Actions:

On the other hand, if you want to talk about something that happened at a specific time in the past, you use vor.

For example: Ich bin vor drei Jahren hierher gezogen. (I moved here three years ago.)

This action started and finished in the past, so we use vor. 📖

It’s similar to when we use the simple past in English.

Summary:

To distinguish between seit and vor when talking about time in German:

• Use seit for actions that started in the past and are still ongoing. ⏳
• Use vor for actions that happened at a specific time in the past. 📅

For more German time grammar, see bis vs zu and wann, wenn, and als.

Extra Examples:

Here are some extra examples to help you practice:

• Ich arbeite seit fünf Jahren in dieser Firma. (I have been working in this company for five years.) 🏢
• Vor zwei Wochen habe ich meinen Freund besucht. (I visited my friend two weeks ago.) 🗓️
• Sie lernt seit einem Jahr Deutsch. (She has been learning German for a year.) 📚