Breakdown of Früher waren meine Eltern jung und glücklich.
sein
to be
und
and
glücklich
happy
mein
my
die Eltern
the parents
früher
in the past
jung
young
Questions & Answers about Früher waren meine Eltern jung und glücklich.
Why do we use waren here instead of war?
waren is the simple past form of sein (to be) for plural subjects, matching the English "were". Because the subject here is meine Eltern (my parents, which is a "they"), you must use the plural form. If you were talking about just one person, like your father, you would use war: Früher war mein Vater jung.
Why does the verb waren come before the subject meine Eltern? Doesn't the subject usually come first?
The subject often comes first, but the strictest rule in German statements is that the main verb must be in the second position. Because this sentence starts with the time word Früher (in the past), the verb waren must take the number two spot. The subject meine Eltern then simply slides into the third spot right after it.
I learned that früh means "early." Does Früher just mean "earlier"?
Literally, yes! Früher is the comparative form of früh, so it does mean "earlier". However, Germans use früher all the time as a set phrase to mean "in the past," "back in the day," or to express that something "used to" be a certain way.
Why don't the adjectives jung and glücklich have plural endings to match meine Eltern?
In German, adjectives only take grammatical endings when they are placed directly in front of a noun (like "the young parents"). When adjectives come after the verb to describe the subject, they stay in their plain, original dictionary form, no matter if the subject is plural or singular.
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