Breakdown of Mein Opa war damals sehr jung und lustig.
sein
to be
und
and
sehr
very
mein
my
der Opa
the grandpa
jung
young
damals
back then
lustig
funny
Questions & Answers about Mein Opa war damals sehr jung und lustig.
How does the verb war work here?
war means "was". It is the simple past tense of sein (to be). Just like in English (I was, he was), German uses the exact same form for "ich" (ich war) and "er/sie/es" (er war). Here, Mein Opa acts as "er" (he), so we use war.
Is damals the only word for "then"? Can I use dann?
You need damals here because it specifically means "back then" or "at that time" in the past. dann usually means "then" in the sense of "next" or "after that" (like "First we ate, then we went home").
Why don't the adjectives jung and lustig have any special endings?
In German, adjectives only get special endings when they come directly in front of a noun (like in ein junger Opa). When they come after the verb to describe the noun, like in this sentence, they stay in their basic dictionary form.
Why is damals placed right after the verb?
In German statements, the conjugated verb (war) is always in the second position. Time words like damals usually come as early as possible after the verb, before other descriptive details like how someone was (sehr jung und lustig).
Learn Mein Opa war damals sehr jung und lustig and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free