Breakdown of Was auch immer das Ziel ist, wir sehen die Sonne am Horizont.
sein
to be
auch
also, too
wir
we
immer
always
was
what
sehen
to see
die Sonne
the sun
am
on the / at the
das Ziel
the goal
der Horizont
the horizon
Questions & Answers about Was auch immer das Ziel ist, wir sehen die Sonne am Horizont.
How does was auch immer work here, and what happens to the verb?
The phrase was auch immer translates to "whatever" or "no matter what." It acts as a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, which is why the verb ist is pushed to the very end of its clause.
Why doesn't the main clause invert to sehen wir after the first clause?
This is a great catch! Normally, starting a sentence with a subordinate clause forces the main clause to start with its verb (the V2 rule). However, generalizing concessive clauses starting with was auch immer, wer auch immer, etc., are often treated as grammatically independent or detached statements. Because of this, the following main clause usually starts normally with its subject (wir sehen).
Could I separate the words in was auch immer in a sentence like this?
When introducing a "no matter what" clause, they almost always stay together as a fixed block at the very beginning. You would only separate them when asking an actual, strongly emphasized question, such as Was ist das auch immer? (Whatever could that be?).
Why do we use am Horizont instead of auf dem Horizont?
In German, the horizon is conceptualized as a boundary or a line, so it takes the preposition an rather than auf (which implies being on top of a surface). Since it answers the static question "where?", it takes the dative case, combining an and dem into am.
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