Starting in the Future: ab
To talk about a starting point in the future, use the temporal preposition ab (starting from / as of).
| The new app works starting tomorrow. | Die neue App funktioniert ab morgen. |
If you start a sentence with a time phrase like ab nächster Woche (starting next week), the conjugated verb must take the second position, right before the subject.
| Starting next week, the subscription is free. | Ab nächster Woche ist das Abo kostenlos. |
When discussing an Abo (subscription), you will frequently use the verb gelten (to be valid / to apply).
| The new subscription is valid starting January first. | Das neue Abo gilt ab dem ersten Januar. |
Downloading and Managing Apps
When talking about digital actions like herunterladen (to download), aktivieren (to activate), or löschen (to delete), you will often use subordinate clauses starting with ob (if / whether) or dass (that). These connecting words send the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.
| Do you know if one can already download the app? | Weißt du, ob man die App schon herunterladen kann? |
| I hope that you can download the update. | Ich hoffe, dass du das Update herunterladen kannst. |
You can also use ab to express when users (Nutzer) can access newly downloaded features or accounts.
| Starting today, users can activate the account. | Ab heute können die Nutzer das Konto aktivieren. |
When giving step-by-step instructions with modal verbs like müssen (must), the main action verbs stay in their infinitive forms at the end of their respective clauses.
| First you must delete the old app and then download the new app. | Zuerst musst du die alte App löschen und dann die neue App herunterladen. |
