Breakdown of Sei es nun eine mechanische oder eine automatische Uhr, er repariert sie.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
sie
she
es
it
oder
or
reparieren
to repair
die Uhr
the clock / o'clock
nun
now, well then
automatisch
automatically
mechanisch
mechanical
Questions & Answers about Sei es nun eine mechanische oder eine automatische Uhr, er repariert sie.
What grammatical form is sei in the phrase sei es nun ... oder, and what does it do?
Sei is the Konjunktiv I (Subjunctive I) form of sein (to be). In the fixed phrase sei es ... oder ... (whether it be ... or ...), it introduces an alternative concession. It tells us that regardless of which option is true, the result in the main clause remains exactly the same.
Normally, starting a sentence with a dependent clause pushes the main clause's verb to the front. Why is it er repariert sie and not repariert er sie?
That is a great observation! The phrase sei es nun ... oder ... is often treated as a parenthetical remark (a detached phrase) rather than a true grammatical clause occupying Position 1. Because it sits outside the core structure, the main clause just follows regular Subject-Verb-Object word order.
What role does nun play here? Is it necessary?
You can entirely drop it and just say Sei es eine mechanische.... Here, nun acts as a modal particle that smooths the flow of the sentence and slightly emphasizes the indifference (like saying 'whether it happens to be'). It does not mean 'now' in a chronological sense here.
Just to double-check my adjective endings, what case is eine mechanische oder eine automatische Uhr in?
It is in the nominative case. The verb sein (even in its Konjunktiv I form sei) equates the subject with a predicative noun, which stays in the nominative. Since Uhr is feminine, the adjectives after the indefinite article eine take the standard nominative feminine ending -e.
Learn Sei es nun eine mechanische oder eine automatische Uhr, er repariert sie and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free