Word
Wir sind vom Wetter abhängig, wenn wir wandern.
Meaning
We are dependent on the weather when we hike.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Wir sind vom Wetter abhängig, wenn wir wandern.
sein
to be
wir
we
das Wetter
the weather
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
Questions & Answers about Wir sind vom Wetter abhängig, wenn wir wandern.
English says "dependent on". Why does this sentence use vom (von), which usually means "from"?
This is exactly what adjectives with fixed prepositions are all about! Many German adjectives require a specific preposition that you simply have to memorize, and it often does not match the English equivalent. The adjective abhängig (dependent) always pairs with the preposition von.
Where does the "m" in vom come from?
The word vom is a standard contraction of the preposition von and the definite article dem. The preposition von always triggers the dative case. Since Wetter is a neuter noun (das Wetter), the article das changes to dem in the dative case, and then naturally merges with von to become vom.
Why is the adjective abhängig placed all the way at the end of the first clause?
In a German main clause, the adjective that describes the subject (used with a verb like sein) is pushed to the end. You place the other details—like the prepositional phrase vom Wetter—between the verb (sind) and the adjective (abhängig). Structurally, it is like saying: "We are from the weather dependent."
Why does the verb wandern go at the very end of the sentence?