Word
Als der Postbote den Brief brachte, war die Frau hoffnungsvoll.
Meaning
When the postman brought the letter, the woman was hopeful.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Als der Postbote den Brief brachte, war die Frau hoffnungsvoll.
sein
to be
die Frau
the woman
bringen
to bring
der Brief
the letter
Questions & Answers about Als der Postbote den Brief brachte, war die Frau hoffnungsvoll.
How exactly is the adjective hoffnungsvoll formed, and why is there an 's' in the middle?
It is made by combining the noun Hoffnung (hope) and the suffix -voll (full of). The 's' in the middle is a linking sound. You will almost always see this linking 's' when attaching suffixes or making compound words out of nouns that end in -ung, -heit, or -keit.
Does the suffix -voll always translate directly to the English suffix '-ful'?
It often does, just like hoffnungsvoll (hopeful) or respektvoll (respectful), because both mean 'full of' that quality. However, be careful: sometimes English uses a different word entirely. For example, sinnvoll means 'sensible' or 'logical', not 'senseful'.
The sentence starts with Als for 'When'. Could I use Wenn here instead?
No, you must use Als here. In German, als is used for a single, specific event that happened in the past (like the postman delivering this specific letter). You would only use wenn in the past tense if you meant 'whenever' (a repeated event).
Why does the main clause after the comma start with war instead of the subject die Frau?