Introduction to seit vs. vor

Both seit and vor relate to the past, and both are often translated using English words like "ago," "since," or "for." But they work completely differently — and mixing them up produces sentences that are not just unnatural but grammatically wrong. The key is understanding that seit looks backward from now and talks about duration that is still ongoing, while vor points to a completed moment in the past. One word keeps you in the present; the other puts you entirely in the past.

Why seit vs. vor Matters

They require different tenses: Seit is used with the present tense in German (because the action is still ongoing now), while vor is used with the past tense (because the action is completed). This tense mismatch is the most reliable signal — and the most common error.
English is misleading: "I have been learning German for three years" maps to seit + present tense in German. "I started three years ago" maps to vor + past tense. English handles both with "for" or "ago" and doesn't signal the German distinction clearly.
Both take the dative case: Seit and vor are both dative prepositions. The noun phrase that follows must always be in the dative — a second layer of precision to get right.
seit also functions as a conjunction: Seit can introduce a subordinate clause (seit + verb at end), not just a noun phrase — an important extension beyond the preposition use.

Understanding seit vs. vor

The Core Distinction

	seit	vor
What it describes	Duration from a past starting point up to NOW — still ongoing	A completed point or period in the past — finished
Direction	From the past toward the present	A fixed point behind the present
Tense used with it	Present tense (Präsens)	Past tense (Perfekt or Präteritum)
English equivalent	for (duration), since (starting point)	ago
Case	Dative	Dative

The Timeline Picture

The clearest way to understand the difference is to imagine a timeline. Vor places a flag at a point in the past and says "that happened there." Seit draws a line from a point in the past all the way to now and says "this has been going on since then."

Expression	What it shows on the timeline	Example
vor drei Jahren	A flag three years back — completed event	Ich bin vor drei Jahren nach Berlin gezogen.
seit drei Jahren	A line from three years ago stretching to now	Ich wohne seit drei Jahren in Berlin.

Both sentences involve three years — but the first describes when the move happened (completed), and the second describes how long the living situation has been going on (still ongoing now).

seit — Duration Still Ongoing (Present Tense)

Seit is used when something started in the past and is still true now. The critical grammar point: German uses the present tense with seit, where English would use "have been doing." This is one of the clearest differences between the two languages:

German (present tense + seit)	English (present perfect)
Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch.	I have been learning German for three years.
Sie wohnt seit 2018 in München.	She has been living in Munich since 2018.
Wir kennen uns seit der Schulzeit.	We have known each other since school.
Er ist seit einer Woche krank.	He has been ill for a week.

The tense rule: If the situation is still ongoing at the moment of speaking → present tense + seit. Never use past tense with seit for an ongoing situation.

seit — Used with a Specific Starting Point or a Duration

Seit can refer either to a specific point in time (since when) or to a length of time (for how long). Both use seit:

Type	Example	English
Duration (for how long)	seit drei Jahren	for three years
Duration	seit einer Woche	for a week
Specific point (since when)	seit 2020	since 2020
Specific point	seit dem Sommer	since the summer
Specific point	seit meiner Kindheit	since my childhood

vor — A Completed Point in the Past (Past Tense)

Vor means "ago" — it places an action at a specific completed point in the past. The action is finished. German uses the past tense (Perfekt or Präteritum) with vor:

German (past tense + vor)	English
Ich habe vor drei Jahren Deutsch angefangen.	I started German three years ago.
Sie ist vor zwei Wochen angekommen.	She arrived two weeks ago.
Er hat das vor langer Zeit gewusst.	He knew that a long time ago.
Wir haben uns vor der Schulzeit kennengelernt.	We met before school (started).

The Tense Is the Signal — Both Together

The tense of the main verb is the most reliable diagnostic. The combination of preposition + tense tells the listener everything:

Preposition	Tense	Meaning	Example
seit	Present	Started in past, still ongoing now	Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch.
seit	Past (negative / ended situations)	Had been ongoing but is now over	Ich hatte seit Jahren nicht mehr geschlafen.
vor	Past	Completed at a specific point ago	Ich habe vor zwei Jahren angefangen.

seit as a Conjunction

Seit can also introduce a subordinate clause, not just a prepositional phrase. As a conjunction, it means "since" and sends the verb to the end of the clause:

As preposition	As conjunction
Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch.	Ich lerne Deutsch, seit ich in Deutschland wohne.
Sie ist seit dem Unfall verändert.	Sie ist verändert, seit sie den Unfall hatte.

Dative Case After Both Prepositions

Both seit and vor take the dative case. For time expressions, the dative forms of the articles are:

Gender	Nominative	Dative (after seit / vor)	Example
Masculine	der Monat	dem Monat → einem Monat	seit einem Monat
Feminine	die Woche	der Woche → einer Woche	vor einer Woche
Neuter	das Jahr	dem Jahr → einem Jahr	seit einem Jahr
Plural	die Jahre	den Jahren → drei Jahren	vor drei Jahren (note -n on plural)

Step-by-Step Guide

Is the situation still true right now? Am I still doing it, still living there, still ill? → seit + present tense.
Did the action happen at a specific point in the past and is now completed? → vor + past tense.
Am I saying "for how long" about something ongoing? → seit + duration + present tense.
Am I saying "X time ago"? → vor + duration + past tense.
Check the case: Both take dative — make sure articles and adjective endings agree.

Pro Tip: The fastest check — can you add "and I still am / still do"? If yes → seit + present tense. Can you add "and then it was done / over"? If yes → vor + past tense.

Memory Pattern: Seit = a bridge from the past to now — still standing, still being used. Vor = a stone in the river behind you — passed, fixed, done.

Key Examples

German	English	Note
Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch.	I have been learning German for three years.	seit + present — still learning now
Ich habe vor drei Jahren mit Deutsch angefangen.	I started German three years ago.	vor + Perfekt — the start was completed three years back
Sie wohnt seit 2019 in Wien.	She has been living in Vienna since 2019.	seit + specific year + present — still living there
Sie ist vor zwei Jahren nach Wien gezogen.	She moved to Vienna two years ago.	vor + Perfekt — the move is a completed past event
Er ist seit einer Woche krank.	He has been ill for a week.	seit + present — still ill now
Er wurde vor einer Woche krank.	He fell ill a week ago.	vor + Präteritum — the onset of illness was a past event
Wir kennen uns seit der Schulzeit.	We have known each other since school.	seit + specific starting point + present — still know each other
Wir haben uns vor langer Zeit kennengelernt.	We met a long time ago.	vor + Perfekt — meeting was a completed past event
Ich esse seit dem Urlaub kein Fleisch mehr.	I have not been eating meat since the holiday.	seit + present (negative) — the no-meat situation is ongoing
Das ist passiert, seit ich hier wohne.	That has been happening since I moved here.	seit as conjunction + verb at end — subordinate clause

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch gelernt.
- Fix: Seit with an ongoing situation uses the present tense, not the Perfekt. Say Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch. The present tense signals that the learning is still continuing now.
Mistake 2: Ich habe seit drei Jahren Deutsch angefangen.
- Fix: Vor is needed for a completed past event — the start of learning is finished: Ich habe vor drei Jahren Deutsch angefangen. Seit would imply starting is still ongoing, which makes no sense.
Mistake 3: Ich lerne Deutsch vor drei Jahren.
- Fix: Two errors here — vor requires past tense, and vor means "ago" (completed), not "for." The sentence needs to be split: either Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch (ongoing) or Ich habe vor drei Jahren angefangen (completed start).
Mistake 4: Er ist seit ein Jahr krank.
- Fix: Both seit and vor take dative. Das Jahr is neuter, so the dative indefinite article is einem: Er ist seit einem Jahr krank.
Nuance 1: Using seit with past tense for ended situations.
- Fix: Seit can appear with past tense when the ongoing situation has now ended or is described from a past perspective: Ich hatte seit Jahren nicht geschlafen (I hadn't slept for years — past situation, now over). This is correct but less common — present tense + seit is the standard pattern for everyday use.

Cultural Insights

seit in German small talk: Questions with seit wann (since when / how long) are a natural part of getting-to-know-you conversations in German. Seit wann lernst du Deutsch? (How long have you been learning German?), Seit wann wohnst du in Berlin? (How long have you been living in Berlin?) — these are warm, genuinely curious questions and entirely standard. Knowing how to answer them with seit + present tense is a basic social skill in German-speaking countries.
The English "for" trap: English uses "for" both for ongoing duration (seit) and completed duration ("I lived there for three years" = Ich wohnte dort drei Jahre lang — no preposition needed, just time + lang). German handles these very differently. When the situation is over, German often drops the preposition entirely and just uses the time phrase: drei Jahre lang (for three years, now over).

Practice Scenarios

Talking about yourself: Describing how long you have been doing something, e.g., Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch — ich habe vor zwei Jahren angefangen. (I have been learning German for two years — I started two years ago.)
- Ich lerne seit... (I have been learning for...)
- Ich wohne seit... in... (I have been living in... for...)
- Ich habe vor... angefangen. (I started... ago.)
Asking about others: Using seit wann in conversation, e.g., Seit wann arbeitest du hier? — Seit drei Jahren. Und du, wann hast du angefangen? (How long have you been working here? — For three years. And you, when did you start?)
- Seit wann...? (How long / since when...?)
- Vor wie vielen Jahren...? (How many years ago...?)
Describing changes: Combining seit and vor to tell a story, e.g., Vor fünf Jahren bin ich nach Hamburg gezogen und ich wohne seitdem hier. (Five years ago I moved to Hamburg and I have been living here since then.)
- Vor... Jahren bin ich... (... years ago I...)
- Seitdem... (Since then...)
- Ich bin seit... hier. (I have been here for...)

Follow-Up Questions

Why does seit use the present tense in German when English uses "have been doing"?
- Example Answer: German and English handle ongoing situations differently. In German, if something is still happening now, you use the present tense — the word seit already signals that it started in the past. English uses the present perfect (have been doing) to express the same idea. Ich lerne seit drei Jahren Deutsch is present tense in German but translates as "I have been learning German for three years" in English.
What case do seit and vor take?
- Example Answer: Both seit and vor are dative prepositions. The noun that follows must be in the dative case. Seit einem Jahr (neuter dative), vor einer Woche (feminine dative), vor drei Jahren (plural dative with -n ending).
How do you say "for three years" when the situation is now over?
- Example Answer: When the duration is completed, German often drops the preposition and uses drei Jahre lang (for three years). Ich habe dort drei Jahre lang gewohnt — I lived there for three years (and no longer do). Seit would be wrong here because the situation is finished.

Conclusion

Seit and vor divide the territory of past time between them cleanly: seit handles ongoing duration (with present tense), vor handles completed past moments (with past tense). The tense of the main verb is the most reliable signal — get that right and the preposition almost always follows naturally. Once these two words are internalised, talking about time in German becomes significantly more precise and more natural.

Practice Makes Perfect

The exercises below focus on both the preposition choice and the tense — because getting one right while getting the other wrong is just as much an error. Pay attention to sentences where both could theoretically apply but mean different things.