Breakdown of Mein Nachbar war lange arbeitslos.
sein
to be
mein
my
lange
for a long time, long
der Nachbar
the neighbor (male)
arbeitslos
unemployed
Questions & Answers about Mein Nachbar war lange arbeitslos.
Why does the sentence use the simple past war instead of the spoken past ist gewesen?
In spoken German, the spoken past (Perfekt) is usually preferred. However, the verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have), along with modal verbs, are exceptions. It is much more natural to use their simple past forms (war and hatte) even in everyday conversation.
How does the word lange translate to "for a long time"? Shouldn't it be für eine lange Zeit?
While English needs a preposition to express this duration ("for a long time"), German usually just uses the adverb lange directly. You could technically say für eine lange Zeit, but lange on its own is much more natural and common.
What does the suffix -los in arbeitslos mean?
The suffix -los is exactly like the English suffix "-less" and means "without". So, arbeitslos literally means "workless", which translates to unemployed. You will see this in many other words, such as hoffnungslos (hopeless) or kostenlos (free of charge).
Why does arbeitslos come at the very end of the sentence?
In German, time information (like lange) usually comes as early as possible after the conjugated verb. Adjectives that describe the subject (like arbeitslos) are pushed to the end of the sentence.
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