Breakdown of Eine lange Weltreise wäre wunderbar.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
lang
long
die Weltreise
the world trip
wunderbar
wonderful
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?
Adjectives in German only take endings when they come directly in front of the noun they describe (like lange right before Weltreise). Because wunderbar comes after the verb and stands alone at the end of the sentence, it does not get an ending and stays in its basic dictionary form.
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