Breakdown of Ob die Location wetterfest ist und das Catering klappt, ist nicht absehbar.
sein
to be
und
and
nicht
not
ob
whether / if
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
klappen
to work out
wetterfest
weatherproof
die Location
the venue (anglicism)
absehbar
foreseeable
das Catering
the catering
Questions & Answers about Ob die Location wetterfest ist und das Catering klappt, ist nicht absehbar.
Why does the main clause start directly with the verb ist instead of a subject like es?
The entire indirect question Ob die Location wetterfest ist und das Catering klappt acts as the subject of the sentence. Since this subject clause occupies Position 1, the main verb ist must immediately follow it in Position 2. You do not need a placeholder subject like es here.
Why is the verb klappt placed before the comma, rather than at the very end of the sentence?
The subject clause is made up of two subordinate clauses joined by und. The subordinating conjunction Ob applies to both. The verb ist goes at the end of the first part, and klappt goes at the end of the second part. Only after the comma does the main clause begin.
Are English loanwords like Location and Catering treated exactly like normal German nouns?
Yes. Just like native German nouns, they are always capitalized and assigned a grammatical gender. We get die Location (feminine, likely taking the gender of the German equivalent die Lage) and das Catering (neuter, as English loanwords ending in -ing almost always are).
Is the verb klappen considered too informal for written German?
While klappen (to work out or to go smoothly) is slightly colloquial, it is universally used and acceptable in mostly all professional and everyday writing. You would only avoid it in highly formal or academic texts, where you might use funktionieren instead.
How is the adjective absehbar (foreseeable) formed?
It is built from the separable verb absehen (to foresee or to anticipate). Adding the suffix -bar turns a verb into an adjective describing what can be done, directly matching the English suffix -able.
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