Breakdown of Als ich im Ausland gelebt habe, habe ich viel Erfahrung gesammelt.
ich
I
haben
to have
viel
much / a lot
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
das Ausland
the foreign country / abroad
als
when (past single event)
leben
to live/reside (in a place)
die Erfahrung
the experience
sammeln
to gather
Questions & Answers about Als ich im Ausland gelebt habe, habe ich viel Erfahrung gesammelt.
Why do we use als for "when" instead of wenn?
In German, als is used for a single block of time or a one-time event in the past, like living abroad. You use wenn for present and future events, or for things that happened repeatedly in the past (meaning "whenever").
Why are both gelebt and habe at the very end of the first part?
The word als is a subordinating conjunction, which means it forces the conjugated verb (habe) to the very end of its clause. Because this sentence is in the past tense, the past participle (gelebt) sits right next to it in the second-to-last spot.
Why does the second half start with habe ich instead of ich habe?
The entire first clause (Als ich im Ausland gelebt habe) counts as position number one in the overall sentence. Because German requires the main verb to be in position two, habe must come immediately after the comma, followed by the subject ich.
Why is it im Ausland rather than in das Ausland?
im is a short form of in dem. It uses the dative case here because it describes a fixed location answering the question "where?" (where you lived). If you were moving to a foreign country, you would use the accusative case: ins Ausland (in das Ausland).
Could I use gemacht instead of gesammelt for getting experience?
German speakers usually say Erfahrung sammeln (literally "to collect experience") or Erfahrungen machen (with the plural of experience). Using gesammelt here is the most natural way to say you gathered or gained a lot of experience over time.
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