Learn German: Ich lerne, weil ich die Prüfung bestehen will. - I am studying because I want to pass the exam.

The word weil (because) makes the second part of the sentence a subordinate clause. This means the conjugated verb gets kicked to the very end. Here, the conjugated verb is the modal verb will (want). The action verb bestehen (to pass) stays in its infinitive form and goes right before it. That gives us the rule for these clauses: infinitive + conjugated modal verb.

Does will mean the same thing as the English word 'will'?

No, this is a very common false friend! In German, will comes from the verb wollen, which means 'to want'. If you wanted to express the future tense ('because I will pass the exam'), you would use a form of the verb werden instead: weil ich die Prüfung bestehen werde.

Is the comma before weil mandatory?

Yes! In German, you must always use a comma to separate the main clause (Ich lerne) from a subordinate clause starting with weil. In English, we usually don't put a comma before 'because', but German punctuation rules strictly require it here.

Could I use studiere instead of lerne to mean 'I am studying'?

Not for this situation. In German, lernen is used when you are actively acquiring knowledge, like studying for a specific exam, doing homework, or learning a language. Studieren is only used to mean being officially enrolled at a university, like 'I am studying biology'.