It’s funny to me that English is such an expressive language with so many words, but we have so many words that have several very distinct meanings but we use one word. It’s not that we think they are the same thing, but we don’t see a reason to use distinct words. As for German, “when” is a word that is divided into several very distinct groups: wann or wenn or als. Confusing them means you will instantly sound unnatural, and you might confuse someone who think you mean something totally different. How can we use “when” correctly?
wann – wer, was, wann, wo, warum
“wann” is one of the interrogative expressions. In other words, “wann” means “what time“. It is the question, and it is also the answer to the question.
Wann wirst du zu Hause ankommen?
= When will you arrive at home?
Ich weiß nicht, wann ich zu Hause sein werde.
= I don’t know when I will be home.
wenn – logic, regret, or hope
The simple translation is that “wenn” means “if“.
HOWEVER, more specifically, “wenn” are all the statements of logic, regret, or hope. Sometimes we use “when” for those in English, so we cannot say “wenn” means “if” 1:1. Sometimes, English speakers say “when” even though “if” would be better. The rule of thumb is that if you can replace your “when” with “if” in English, the German equivalent is “wenn.”
Logic
Wenn es regnet, werden meine Haare nass.
= If it rains, my hair gets wet.
Regret
Wenn ich nur gewusst hätte, dass du kommst, hätte ich Süßigkeiten mitgebracht.
= If only I had known you were coming, I would have brought candies.
Hope
Wenn ich reich wäre, würde ich ein großes, teures Auto kaufen.
= If I were rich, I would buy a big, expensive car.
als – back at that time when
“Als” is for telling stories. If we talk about the time something happened, we also use “when” in English. When I was a kid… When I was your age… When I woke up this morning… This is always “als” in German.
Als ich gestern Abend ins Bett ging, habe ich vergessen, meine Kontaktlinsen herauszunehmen.
= When I went to bed last night, I forgot to remove my contact lenses.
Als wir einen König hatten, gab es keine Wahlen.
= When we had a king, there were no elections.
Wann, wenn, und als – in summary:
- wann: used for the situation where you can replace “when” with “what time” in English
- wenn: used for the situation where you can replace “when” with “if” in English
- als: giving the time situation of your sentence in the past
For me, this distinction is easy because plenty of other languages draw a distinction between these, so my mind doesn’t equivocate them. If you are a native English speaker, however, be careful. Now, you should be able to know when to use wann or wenn or als.
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