Breakdown of In meiner Jugend spielte ich immer brav.
ich
I
spielen
to play
in
in
immer
always
mein
my
die Jugend
the youth
brav
well-behaved
Questions & Answers about In meiner Jugend spielte ich immer brav.
How do we form the simple past tense of spielen in this sentence?
spielen is a regular (weak) verb. To form its simple past (Präteritum), we take the verb stem spiel- and add the past tense marker -te. Because the subject is ich, there is no additional ending, leaving us with spielte.
Why is the word order spielte ich instead of ich spielte?
In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must be in the second position. Because the time phrase In meiner Jugend occupies the entire first position, the verb spielte comes second, pushing the subject ich into the third position.
Why is it in meiner Jugend instead of in meine Jugend?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. When we use it to talk about time (answering the question 'when?'), it always takes the dative case. Since Jugend is feminine (die Jugend), the possessive meine changes to meiner in the dative.
Is the word brav related to the English word 'brave'?
It is a 'false friend'! brav does not mean 'brave'. Instead, it means 'well-behaved', 'good', or 'obedient', and is mostly used for children or pets. If you want to say 'brave' in German, you should use mutig or tapfer.
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