Breakdown of 1920 war ein Meilenstein, weil die Luftfahrt schnell gewachsen ist.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
schnell
fast, quickly
weil
because (subordinating)
Questions & Answers about 1920 war ein Meilenstein, weil die Luftfahrt schnell gewachsen ist.
Why isn't there a preposition like 'in' before 1920?
In English, we say 'in 1920', but in German, you never use in before a specific year. You can either use the year completely by itself, as done here, or use the phrase im Jahr 1920. In this specific sentence, 1920 acts as the subject, but the zero-preposition rule applies anytime you state a year.
Why does the second clause use ist gewachsen instead of hat gewachsen?
The verb wachsen (to grow) describes a change of state. In German, verbs that express a change of state or a change of location build their perfect past tense with the helping verb sein (conjugated here as ist) rather than haben.
Why are the verbs gewachsen and ist at the very end of the sentence?
The conjunction weil (because) makes this a subordinate clause, which forces the conjugated verb to the end. Because the sentence uses the two-part perfect tense, both the past participle (gewachsen) and the conjugated helping verb (ist) move to the end, with the helping verb placed dead last.
How can I remember the gender of Luftfahrt?