Ist jemand im Wasser, werfen wir den Rettungsring.
If someone is in the water, we throw the lifebuoy.
Breakdown of Ist jemand im Wasser, werfen wir den Rettungsring.
sein
to be
in
in
das Wasser
the water
wir
we
Questions & Answers about Ist jemand im Wasser, werfen wir den Rettungsring.
Why does this sentence start with the verb Ist instead of a conditional word like Wenn?
This is a verb-first conditional clause. In German, you can drop the word wenn (if) to make a conditional sentence. When you do this, the conjugated verb moves to the very first position of the clause, just like in a yes/no question. So, Ist jemand im Wasser means exactly the same thing as Wenn jemand im Wasser ist.
Why is it werfen wir in the second half instead of wir werfen?
The entire first clause (Ist jemand im Wasser) acts as a single block that takes up position one in the overall sentence. Because the verb must always take position two in a German main clause, the verb werfen has to come right after the comma, followed by the subject wir. You would use this exact same word order if you used a regular wenn clause.
Why does the sentence use im Wasser and not ins Wasser?
The word im is short for in dem, which uses the dative case. We use the dative here because the person is already located in the water, which is a fixed location. If someone were jumping into the water (an active change of location), you would use the accusative case: ins Wasser (short for in das Wasser).
How is the word Rettungsring formed and why is it den Rettungsring?