Questions & Answers about Die Abfahrt war pünktlich.
The lesson is about separable verbs, but I don't see one here. How does this sentence fit in?
There isn't a separable verb in this sentence, but the noun Abfahrt (departure) is built directly from the separable verb abfahren (to depart or drive off). You can see the separable prefix ab- sitting right at the front of the core word Fahrt (trip or drive).
Why does this sentence use war for the past tense instead of the Perfekt tense we are learning?
war means 'was' and is the simple past form of sein (to be). Even though conversational German mostly uses the Perfekt tense for past events, the verb sein is a major exception. Germans almost always use war instead of its Perfekt form (ist gewesen) because it is much shorter and natural to say.
Is there a trick to remember why it is die Abfahrt?
Yes! Abfahrt uses the feminine word for 'the', which is die. In German, when a noun is formed directly from a verb and ends in a -t (like Fahrt from fahren, or Abfahrt from abfahren), it is almost always feminine.
Does pünktlich need a special adjective ending here?
No. Because pünktlich (on time or punctual) comes after the verb war and describes the subject rather than sitting directly in front of a noun, it does not get any special endings. It stays exactly as it looks in the dictionary.
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