Breakdown of Wir ändern den Zeitplan, je nachdem, wie viel Zeit wir haben.
haben
to have
die Zeit
the time
wir
we
wie viel
how much
ändern
to change (modify, alter)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
je nachdem
depending on
der Zeitplan
the schedule
Questions & Answers about Wir ändern den Zeitplan, je nachdem, wie viel Zeit wir haben.
How does je nachdem affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
je nachdem (depending on) introduces an indirect question here: wie viel Zeit wir haben (how much time we have). Indirect questions always act as subordinate clauses in German, which means the conjugated verb (haben) is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why is there a comma before wie?
In German, dependent clauses must be separated by commas. Because wie viel Zeit wir haben is an indirect question acting as a subordinate clause, a comma is needed to separate it from the introductory phrase je nachdem.
Is wie viel always written as two words?
Yes, under current German spelling rules, wie viel (how much) and wie viele (how many) are written as two separate words. You might still see the old one-word spelling (wieviel) in older texts, but two words is the correct standard today.
Why does the sentence use den Zeitplan instead of der Zeitplan?
Zeitplan (schedule) is a masculine noun (der Zeitplan). Because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb ändern (to change), it must be in the accusative case, so der changes to den.
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