German Time Prepositions A2: Seit, Zwischen, Über

At A2 level, the time prepositions get a little more nuanced — but there are still only 4 left to learn. This lesson covers seit, zwischen, über and von...an, completing the set of German time prepositions started in the A1.1 and A1.2 lessons. Seit — Trickier Than It Looks Seit means 'since' or 'for', and it's used for something that started in the past and is still ongoing: 'Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch' (I've been learning German for two years). Unlike English, German uses the present tense here, not a perfect tense — a small but important difference for English speakers. Zwischen and Über — Between and Spanning Zwischen expresses 'between' two points in time: 'zwischen zwei und drei Uhr' (between two and three o'clock). Über expresses a span or duration, similar to 'over' or 'throughout': 'über das Wochenende' (over the weekend). Von...An — A Starting Point Going Forward Von...an marks a starting point and everything from there onward, similar in spirit to ab but often used for more definitive turning points: 'Von nun an mache ich das anders' (From now on, I'll do it differently). Frequently Asked Questions Why does German use present tense with seit instead of past tense? German treats an action that started in the past and continues into the present as ongoing, so it uses the present tense — 'Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch' literally describes an action still happening now. What's the difference between zwischen and über for time? Zwischen expresses a time frame between two specific points, like 'zwischen zwei und drei Uhr', while über expresses a span or duration, like 'über das Wochenende' (over the weekend). How is von...an different from ab? Both mark a starting point going forward, but von...an is often used for more definitive turning points or decisions, like 'von nun an' (from now on), while ab is more general. Does this complete all the German time prepositions I need? Together with the 5 from the A1.1 lesson and 4 from the A1.2 lesson, these bring the total to 9 of the most useful German time prepositions across A1 and A2 level. What's a good way to practice seit, zwischen, über and von...an? Talk about your own history with something ongoing — how long you've been doing a hobby, or what your weekend looked like — using each preposition at least once.

Ready to take your German time expressions from A1 to A2 and beyond? Our A1 German course is the place to build that foundation. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why does German use present tense with seit instead of past tense?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "German treats an action that started in the past and continues into the present as ongoing, so it uses the present tense — 'Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch' literally describes an action still happening now." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What's the difference between zwischen and über for time?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Zwischen expresses a time frame between two specific points, like 'zwischen zwei und drei Uhr', while über expresses a span or duration, like 'über das Wochenende' (over the weekend)." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How is von...an different from ab?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Both mark a starting point going forward, but von...an is often used for more definitive turning points or decisions, like 'von nun an' (from now on), while ab is more general." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does this complete all the German time prepositions I need?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Together with the 5 from the A1.1 lesson and 4 from the A1.2 lesson, these bring the total to 9 of the most useful German time prepositions across A1 and A2 level." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What's a good way to practice seit, zwischen, über and von...an?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Talk about your own history with something ongoing — how long you've been doing a hobby, or what your weekend looked like — using each preposition at least once." } } ] }