Breakdown of Bis zum Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal ein komplettes Prüfungstraining durchgespielt haben.
Questions & Answers about Bis zum Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal ein komplettes Prüfungstraining durchgespielt haben.
German is using the future perfect (Futur II):
- Bis zum Ende des Semesters = by the end of the semester
- werden wir … durchgespielt haben = we will have played through / completed
The future perfect highlights that the action will be finished before or by a certain future point.
Compare:
Bis zum Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal … durchspielen.
→ Future (Futur I): “By the end of the semester we will go through it three times.” (focus on the future action)Bis zum Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal … durchgespielt haben.
→ Future perfect (Futur II): “By the end of the semester we will have gone through it three times.” (focus on the completed result)
In everyday speech, many Germans would also just use the present or future instead of Futur II, but the bookish/precise choice here is Futur II.
It’s the future perfect of a verb that normally uses “haben” in the perfect tense.
- Base verb: durchspielen (to play through / rehearse completely)
- Perfect (present perfect):
- Wir haben das Prüfungstraining durchgespielt.
- Future perfect:
- Wir werden das Prüfungstraining durchgespielt haben.
Pattern for Futur II:
werden (conjugated, 2nd position) + [past participle] + haben/sein (at the end)
So in your sentence:
- werden = future auxiliary, 2nd position
- durchgespielt = past participle of durchspielen
- haben = auxiliary that durchspielen uses in the perfect
Hence: werden … durchgespielt haben.
Because durchspielen is a separable verb in this meaning (to go through something from start to finish).
- Present: Wir spielen das Prüfungstraining durch.
(prefix durch goes to the end) - Perfect: Wir haben das Prüfungstraining durchgespielt.
(prefix durch attaches to the participle: durch- gespielt → durchgespielt)
In the future perfect, the rule is:
- Verb cluster at the end: [participle] + haben/sein
So we get:
- … Prüfungstraining durchgespielt haben.
You would not say haben durchgespielt at the very end; in multi-verb endings like this, the full participle comes before the auxiliary haben.
Both exist:
- dreimal (one word)
- drei Mal (two words)
Modern standard spelling prefers the one-word form (dreimal, zweimal, viermal, etc.) for adverbs of frequency.
drei Mal is still understood and used, but dreimal is more neutral and looks more “correct” in formal writing. There is no real difference in meaning here.
German word order is fairly flexible, especially for adverbs like dreimal. Both are grammatically possible:
- … werden wir dreimal ein komplettes Prüfungstraining durchgespielt haben.
- … werden wir ein komplettes Prüfungstraining dreimal durchgespielt haben.
General tendencies:
- Adverbs of frequency (often, never, three times, etc.) like dreimal tend to appear close to the verb, often before the object.
- The version in your sentence (dreimal before ein komplettes Prüfungstraining) is very natural and slightly emphasizes the number of repetitions.
The alternative with dreimal after the object puts slightly more weight on the object itself, but the difference is subtle.
Because Prüfungstraining is neuter in German:
- das Training → das Prüfungstraining
So in the accusative singular (it’s the direct object: What will we have done? – a training), the forms are:
- Indefinite article: ein
- Adjective ending: -es for neuter accusative singular
Hence:
- ein komplettes Prüfungstraining
If the noun were feminine, you would see eine komplette…; if masculine accusative, einen kompletten….
Prüfungstraining is a compound:
- die Prüfung = exam
- das Training = training, practice
So das Prüfungstraining means exam training / exam practice—usually a structured practice session that imitates the real exam (timing, tasks, conditions).
Compared to alternatives:
- Prüfungsvorbereitung = preparation for the exam (broader, can include homework, revising, etc.)
- Probeprüfung / Musterprüfung = mock exam, sample exam
Prüfungstraining is quite common in language courses and exam-prep books, especially for language exams (Goethe, TestDaF, telc, etc.).
Break it down:
- bis = “until / by”
- zu dem = “to the” → contracted to zum
- das Ende (neuter) → dem Ende in dative
- das Semester (neuter) → des Semesters in genitive
Structure:
bis zum Ende
- Here, bis is followed by the fixed phrase zum Ende.
- zu always takes the dative, so zu dem Ende → zum Ende (dative).
des Semesters
- des Semesters is genitive, meaning “of the semester”.
- das Semester → des Semesters in genitive singular.
So you have:
- bis (preposition)
- zum Ende (dative phrase)
- des Semesters (genitive phrase depending on Ende)
Altogether: “by the end of the semester.”
They express different time relations:
bis zum Ende des Semesters
- by the end of the semester (any time up to that point, inclusive)
- Focus on the whole period leading up to that moment
- Fits naturally with Futur II: something will have been completed by then
am Ende des Semesters
- at the end of the semester (specifically when it ends)
- Focus on the point in time at the end, not the whole period before it
So:
Bis zum Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal … durchgespielt haben.
→ At that time, the three practice runs are already finished.Am Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal … durchspielen.
→ Sounds like you plan to do the three runs at the end, which is a bit odd in context. You’d normally still say bis zum Ende here.
Yes, that is very natural in spoken German:
- Bis zum Ende des Semesters haben wir dreimal ein komplettes Prüfungstraining durchgespielt.
German often uses:
- Present for future events when the time is clear from context
- Perfect (Perfekt) for completed actions that are relevant to a (present or future) point in time
Functionally, this sentence and the Futur-II version usually mean the same in real life. The textbook-like Futur II emphasizes the “projection” into the future more clearly, but everyday speech would likely prefer the present perfect or even just the present:
- Bis zum Ende des Semesters spielen wir dreimal ein komplettes Prüfungstraining durch.
These verbs have different nuances:
durchspielen
- Literally: “to play through something”
- Implies you go through the entire process from start to finish
- In this context: you simulate the whole exam under exam-like conditions
machen
- Very general: “to do”
- ein Prüfungstraining machen is possible but vaguer, less specific.
üben
- “to practice,” but not necessarily the whole thing in one go
- You could üben individual tasks or parts, not always a full test.
So durchspielen nicely captures the idea of full exam simulations being done from beginning to end.
Both are correct. German main clauses have the rule:
- The conjugated verb (here werden) must be in 2nd position.
- The 1st position can be almost any element (subject, time phrase, object, etc.).
Two options:
Bis zum Ende des Semesters (1st position) + werden (2nd) + wir (3rd):
- Bis zum Ende des Semesters werden wir dreimal … durchgespielt haben.
- Focus/emphasis starts with the time frame.
Wir (1st) + werden (2nd) + (rest):
- Wir werden bis zum Ende des Semesters dreimal … durchgespielt haben.
- Focus starts with we.
The version in your sentence emphasizes the deadline (“by the end of the semester”) by putting it first. Both are grammatically fine.