Breakdown of Es ist ein irreales Gefühl, wenn man durch das Labyrinth geht.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
es
it
gehen
to go
Questions & Answers about Es ist ein irreales Gefühl, wenn man durch das Labyrinth geht.
Why does German use the prefix ir- in irreales rather than the standard un-?
Real is a loanword from Latin. In German, adjectives of Latin origin often take Latin negative prefixes instead of the native Germanic un-. Because real starts with an 'r', the Latin prefix in- changes to match it, becoming ir- (creating irreal).
Why is the ending -es added to irreal here?
Gefühl is a neuter noun in the nominative case. Because it follows the indefinite article ein, which doesn't show the neuter gender clearly, the adjective must step in and take the strong neuter ending -es, making it irreales.
Why is das Labyrinth in the accusative case?
The preposition durch is a strict accusative preposition. No matter the context, any noun following durch must always be in the accusative case. Since Labyrinth is neuter, the article stays das.
Why does the verb geht come at the very end of the sentence?
The word wenn acts as a subordinating conjunction here, which introduces a subordinate clause. In German, subordinate clauses always push their conjugated verb to the very end.