Breakdown of Was mir wichtig ist, ist eine exakte Raumtemperatur.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
was
what
wichtig
important
mir
me / to me (dative)
exakt
exactly
die Raumtemperatur
the room temperature
Questions & Answers about Was mir wichtig ist, ist eine exakte Raumtemperatur.
Why are there two ists right next to each other?
This is the core of a pseudo-cleft sentence (Pseudospaltsatz), which is used for emphasis. The first part, Was mir wichtig ist (What is important to me), acts as a subordinate clause that forms the complete subject of the main sentence. Because it is a subordinate clause, its verb (the first ist) gets pushed to the end. The main clause then immediately begins with its own verb (the second ist) to satisfy the standard verb-second rule.
Is the comma between the two ists strictly necessary?
Yes! In German, subordinate clauses must always be separated from the main clause by commas. Even though the clause Was mir wichtig ist is acting as the subject of the entire sentence, it still needs to be closed off with a comma before the main verb appears.
Why is eine exakte Raumtemperatur in the nominative case? Shouldn't it be an object?
It stays in the nominative because the main verb connecting the two halves of the sentence is sein (to be). The verb sein does not take a direct object in the accusative case. Instead, it links the subject to a predicative noun in the nominative case. The underlying structure is simply "[Subject clause] is [Nominative]".
How does this structure change the tone compared to a normal sentence?
A standard phrasing would be Eine exakte Raumtemperatur ist mir wichtig. By using the Was ... ist ... structure instead, you build a bit of suspense. It forces the listener to wait until the very end of the sentence to hear the crucial piece of information, putting a strong, deliberate spotlight on the exact room temperature.
Could I say für mich wichtig instead of mir wichtig?
Yes, wichtig für mich is also grammatically correct and means the same thing. However, German very frequently pairs adjectives expressing feelings or personal relevance (like wichtig, zu warm, angenehm) directly with a dative pronoun (mir) to show who is affected. It sounds extremely natural to native speakers.
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