Breakdown of Ich bekomme Panik, wenn ich eine Spinne sehe, und zittere sofort.
ich
I
ein
a, an (eine)
und
and
sehen
to see
sofort
immediately
wenn
if / when (conditional, not a question word)
bekommen
to receive / to get (be given)
die Spinne
the spider
die Panik
the panic
zittern
to tremble
Questions & Answers about Ich bekomme Panik, wenn ich eine Spinne sehe, und zittere sofort.
Why is there no ich before zittere, and why is it separated from the beginning of the sentence?
The conjunction und connects back to the main clause at the start: Ich bekomme Panik. Because both actions (bekomme and zittere) share the same subject (ich), you don't need to repeat the pronoun. The subordinate clause (wenn ich eine Spinne sehe) is simply inserted into the middle of the main clause.
Doesn't bekommen mean "to become"? Why is it used for "I panic"?
bekommen is a classic "false friend"! It actually means "to get" or "to receive". So Ich bekomme Panik literally translates to "I get panic". If you wanted to say "to become", you would use the German verb werden.
Could I use wann or als instead of wenn for "when" in this sentence?
No. wann is a question word used to ask about time (like "At what time?"). als is used for a single, one-time event in the past. Because this sentence describes a repeated condition or event in the present ("whenever I see a spider"), wenn is the only correct choice.
Why are there commas on both sides of wenn ich eine Spinne sehe?
In German, subordinate clauses (like this wenn clause) must be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Because this clause interrupts the main clause (Ich bekomme Panik ... und zittere sofort), you need one comma to introduce the subordinate clause and a second one to close it off before returning to the main clause.
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