Breakdown of Eine lange Weltreise wäre wunderbar.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
lang
long
die Weltreise
the world trip
Questions & Answers about Eine lange Weltreise wäre wunderbar.
Why do we use wäre here instead of ist?
wäre is the Konjunktiv II (Subjunctive II) form of sein (to be) for he/she/it. It translates to "would be". You use it to talk about hypothetical situations, wishes, or dreams. Since this world trip is just a nice idea and not a reality right now, we use wäre instead of the present tense ist (is).
Why is it Eine lange and not just Ein lang?
Weltreise is a feminine noun. Because it is the subject of the sentence (the nominative case), the word for "a" must be the feminine Eine. The adjective lang (long) then needs an -e ending to match, making it lange.
Weltreise is a compound word. How do I know its gender?
Weltreise is made of two words: die Welt (the world) and die Reise (the trip/journey). In German, the very last word in a compound noun always determines the gender of the whole word. Because it is die Reise, the combined word is feminine: die Weltreise.
Why doesn't wunderbar have an ending like lange does?