12.9 wird

RobS49

RobS49

Ich gehe nachher Milch kaufen.
I am going to buy milk later.
 
Es wird spät.
It is going to be late.
 
Es wird spät werden.
It will be late.

I am looking for insight to help the translations above less confusing. The first example clearly shows the use of gehen when saying something is going to happen. The lesson makes a point about using the future tense when the meaning is not clear. To me, the translations of Es wird spät and Es wird spät werden are identical--at least in the sense that there is no difference between "It is going to be late" and "It will be late." 

So, why isn't gehen used in the second example? (es geht spät.) 

Given the use of the word "wird", it seems both examples are already in the future tense. Or am I missing something.

How is the use of "wird" AND "werden" in the third example not redundant?

Any assistance is most appreciated. 

 
Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor

Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor

Hallo RobS49,

thank you for your question! Unlike English, there is no 'going-to future' in German so you can't say "Es geht spät." unfortunately. Most of the time you just use the present tense when talking about the future, such as "Ich gehe nachher Milch kaufen." - "I am going to buy milk later."  So even though gehen - "to go" is used here, it is just a verb in the present tense, you could translate it more literally as "I am going to go buy milk later."  Let me give you some other examples:
"Ich treffe mich nachher mit Sabine." - "I am going to meet up with Sabine later."
"Ich gehe später Fußball spielen." - "I am going to (go) play soccer later."
"Ich fahre morgen ins Fitnessstudio Sport machen." - "Tomorrow I am going to drive to the gym to work out."

Now let's move on to your other question:
"Es wird..." literally means "It will..." or "It is going to..." whereas "Es wird...werden." literally means "It will get/become..." or "It is going to get/become..."

I hope this was helpful.

Viele Grüße
Julia
RobS49

RobS49

Thank you, Julia. That was very helpful. Clearly I have some work to do. 

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