Breakdown of Wir sind zum Wasserfall gewandert, was sehr anstrengend war.
sein
to be
sehr
very
wir
we
was
what
zum
to the (zu + dem)
wandern
to hike
anstrengend
exhausting
der Wasserfall
the waterfall
Questions & Answers about Wir sind zum Wasserfall gewandert, was sehr anstrengend war.
Why is was used here instead of a normal relative pronoun like der or das?
Usually, relative pronouns refer back to a specific noun. However, in this sentence, the pronoun refers to the entire action of the previous clause (the fact that you hiked to the waterfall). When referring to a whole idea or action rather than a single noun, you use the indefinite relative pronoun was.
Why is the verb war at the very end of the sentence?
The word was here acts as a relative pronoun and introduces a relative clause. Relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause, which means they push the conjugated verb (war) all the way to the end of that clause.
Why does the sentence use sind instead of haben for the past tense of wandern?
The verb wandern (to hike) involves moving from one place to another. In German, verbs that express a change of location or state use sein (here conjugated as sind) as their helping verb in the conversational past tense, rather than haben.
Why do we say zum Wasserfall instead of just zu Wasserfall?
In German, zum is a contraction of the preposition zu (to) and the dative article dem (the). Because Wasserfall is a masculine noun and the preposition zu always forces the dative case, der changes to dem, and they combine into zum.
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