Ik ga naar huis wanneer mijn geld op is. |
I go home when I have run out of money. |
Wanneer is used when the two events described more or less coincide, or the event in the main clause follows immediately on the event in the subordinate clause. In the above example the speaker's money runs out and and next (s)he goes home. Wanneer is used with the present tense or with future aspect. In references to the past the Dutch equivalent of 'when' is toen.
Wanneer is also used when describing a habit:
Wanneer de zon schijnt, ga ik altijd op de fiets naar de universiteit. |
When the sun is shining I always go to the university on my bike. |
In this habitual meaning wanneer can also be used with reference to the past:
Vroeger ging ik altijd op de fiets naar de universiteit wanneer de zon scheen. |
I always used to go to the university on my bike when the sun was shining. |