In the process of learning German, confusion between the prepositions vor, seit, and von…bis often occurs. In today's article, Vogel will compare the usage of these three prepositions to help you distinguish them more easily.
In the process of learning German, confusion between the prepositions vor, seit, and von…bis occurs frequently. In today's article, Vogel will compare the usage of these three prepositions to help you distinguish them more easily.
vor | seit | von…bis |
Describes an event or action that has ended in the past, so it goes together with past tenses (Präteritum, Perfekt, Plusquamperfekt). → Indicates how much time has passed since the event ended. | Describes an event that began in the past and continues up to the present (Präsens). Usually used with the present tense. → Indicates how long an event has been ongoing. | Used when referring to a period of time with a defined start and end. Von….bis can be used with any tense.
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vor + Dativ: vor einem Monat, vor einer Woche, vor drei Monaten….. | seit + Dativ: seit einem Monat, seit einer Woche, seit drei Monaten….. | von + Dativ bis + Akkusativ: von 8 bis 12 Uhr, von Montag bis Freitag,….. |
1. Ich habe vor 3 Jahren angefangen, Deutsch zu lernen. (I started learning German three years ago.) → The act of starting to learn German took place and concluded three years ago. | 1. Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch. (I have been learning German for three years.) → The act of learning German has been going on for 3 years up to now. | 1. Ich habe von 2012 bis 2016 Deutsch gelernt. (I learned German from 2012 to 2016.) 2. Von 7 Uhr bis 9 Uhr habe ich einen Deutschkurs. (I have a German class from 7 AM to 9 AM.)
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Vor is also used to arrange events in their chronological order. In this case vor can be used with any tense: Vor dem Essen gehen wir spazieren. (We go for a walk before dinner.)
| When particularly wanting to emphasize the duration of time an event takes place, seit is used with past tenses because this period of time began in the past: Ich habe diesen Mann seit vielen Jahren nicht mehr gesehen. (I have not seen this man for many years.) | For specific dates use vom….bis zum: vom 12.07 bis zum 30.08 Vom 12. bis zum 14. September ist die Schule geschlossen. (From the 12th to the 14th of September, the school will be closed.) |
Knowledge test
Temporal prepositions: vor, seit, von…bis
- 1.
......... einem Jahr wohne ich in Deutschland.
- 2.
...... Montag ....... Freitag gehe ich in die Schule.
- 3.
.......... dem Unterricht habe ich Vokabeln gelernt.