Word
Seit Montag habe ich ein Problem.
Meaning
I have had a problem since Monday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Seit Montag habe ich ein Problem.
Why does the German sentence use the present tense habe when the English translation says have had?
When a situation started in the past and is still continuing right now, German uses seit combined with the present tense. This is a common trap for English speakers, because English uses the present perfect (have had) to describe this ongoing state.
Why is the word order habe ich instead of ich habe?
The conjugated verb must always take the second position in a standard German main clause. Because the time phrase Seit Montag takes up position one, the verb habe stays in position two, pushing the subject ich right after it into position three.
What case does the preposition seit trigger here?
The preposition seit always requires the dative case. You cannot see a special dative ending on Montag because there is no article before it (like the or a). However, if you added an article or adjective, it would show the dative case, like in seit letztem Montag.
Could I use the preposition für instead of seit in this sentence?
Not with Montag. You use seit for a specific starting point in time (since Monday) or an ongoing duration (for three days now). You generally use für when talking about a planned or set amount of time, and für always requires the accusative case instead of the dative.