Breakdown of Obwohl der Junge erkältet ist, will er heute trainieren.
sein
to be
er
he
heute
today
der Junge
the boy
wollen
to want
obwohl
although
erkältet
having a cold
trainieren
to train
Questions & Answers about Obwohl der Junge erkältet ist, will er heute trainieren.
Why is ist at the end of the first part of the sentence?
Obwohl (although) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause and "kicks" the conjugated verb—in this case, ist—all the way to the end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with the verb will instead of er?
In German, the conjugated verb in a main clause must take the second position. Because the entire obwohl clause acts as the first position, the verb will must come immediately after the comma to take the second position. This creates a helpful rule of thumb when starting a sentence with a dependent clause: the verbs will meet at the comma (... ist, will ...).
Does erkältet mean "a cold"?
Erkältet is actually an adjective. While in English we usually say someone has a cold, in German it is very common to use this adjective with the verb sein (to be). So literally, the boy is cold-having (der Junge ist erkältet). You can also use the noun form like in English (er hat eine Erkältung), but this adjective form is very natural and common.
Is will used here to talk about the future?
No, will is a classic false friend! In German, will comes from the modal verb wollen, which means "to want." The boy wants to train today. If you wanted to talk about the future and say he will train today, you would use a completely different verb (werden): er wird heute trainieren.
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