Breakdown of Wegen des Wetters ist der Hubschrauber im Jahr 1939 nicht gestartet.
sein
to be
nicht
not
das Jahr
the year
das Wetter
the weather
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
wegen
because of
starten
to take off (aircraft)
der Hubschrauber
the helicopter
Questions & Answers about Wegen des Wetters ist der Hubschrauber im Jahr 1939 nicht gestartet.
Could I translate "in 1939" directly to in 1939?
No, this is a very common mistake for English speakers! In German, you cannot use in directly before a year. As this lesson teaches, you have two choices: either use the phrase im Jahr 1939 (or im Jahre 1939), or leave out the preposition entirely and just say the number: Wegen des Wetters ist der Hubschrauber 1939 nicht gestartet.
Why is it des Wetters instead of das Wetter?
The preposition wegen (because of) requires the genitive case. Since das Wetter is a neuter noun, its definite article changes to des, and we add an -s to the end of the noun itself. In casual spoken German, you might hear people use the dative (wegen dem Wetter), but in standard German, the genitive is the correct choice here.
Why does this sentence use ist ... gestartet instead of hat ... gestartet?
In German, verbs that express motion or a change of location build their perfect tense with the helper verb sein. Since the helicopter taking off is a physical movement into the air, we use ist. However, if someone starts an engine or a machine (an action done to a direct object), you would use haben, for example: Der Pilot hat den Hubschrauber gestartet.
Why is the verb ist the fourth word in the sentence?
Remember the "verb second" rule: in a standard main clause, the conjugated verb must be in the second position, which isn't always the second word. The entire phrase Wegen des Wetters (Because of the weather) acts as one single block of information taking up Position 1. Therefore, ist comes immediately after it to take Position 2.
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