Breakdown of Wenn wir zusammenarbeiten, werden wir das Baumhaus schnell bauen.
schnell
fast, quickly
wir
we
bauen
to build
wenn
if / when (conditional, not a question word)
werden
will (future auxiliary)
das Baumhaus
the treehouse
zusammenarbeiten
to work together
Questions & Answers about Wenn wir zusammenarbeiten, werden wir das Baumhaus schnell bauen.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with werden instead of wir?
The entire first clause (Wenn wir zusammenarbeiten) acts as the first "block" or position in the sentence. Because German requires the verb in the main clause to be in the second position (the V2 rule), the verb werden must come immediately after the comma. The subject wir then follows it.
Since zusammenarbeiten is a separable verb, why isn't it separated here?
In a normal main clause, it would separate (for example, Wir arbeiten zusammen). But wenn is a "subordinating conjunction," which means it forces the conjugated verb to the very end of its clause. When the verb is pushed to the end, it crashes back into its prefix, recombining into the single word zusammenarbeiten.
Why do we use werden ... bauen here?
This is the German future tense (Futur I). It is formed using the helper verb werden (conjugated to match the subject) in the second position, and the main verb bauen (to build) in its infinitive form at the very end of the sentence.
How could we rewrite this to say 'Let's build the treehouse quickly' using the grammar from this lesson?
To turn the main action into a suggestion, you drop the "if" condition and use the Lass uns structure. It would be: Lass uns das Baumhaus schnell bauen! (if you are talking to one person) or Lasst uns das Baumhaus schnell bauen! (if you are talking to multiple people).
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