Breakdown of Der Film war wirklich lustig.
sein
to be
der Film
the movie / the film
wirklich
really
lustig
funny
Questions & Answers about Der Film war wirklich lustig.
Why is the verb war used here instead of ist?
war is the simple past tense of sein (to be) for 'he', 'she', and 'it'. Since der Film (the movie) is a third-person subject, we use war to say it was funny, rather than ist for is. This works exactly like 'was' in English!
Why doesn't the adjective lustig have an ending like lustige?
In German, when an adjective comes after a form of the verb 'to be' (like war) to describe the subject, it doesn't take any extra endings. It stays in its basic dictionary form. You only add endings when the adjective comes directly in front of a noun, like in der lustige Film (the funny movie).
How does the word wirklich work here?
wirklich means 'really' or 'truly'. It is used here to make lustig stronger, just like in English. A helpful tip for remembering it: the German ending -lich very often matches the English ending '-ly'.
Is Film exactly the same word as in English?
Yes! German borrowed this word from English. Because it is a noun, it must always be capitalized. It is a masculine noun, which is why it uses der at the start of this sentence.
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