Breakdown of Selbst wenn er jemals anruft, ändert das nichts.
anrufen
to call (by phone)
nichts
nothing
ändern
to change (modify, alter)
selbst wenn
even if
Questions & Answers about Selbst wenn er jemals anruft, ändert das nichts.
How does selbst wenn affect the word order in the first part of the sentence?
Selbst wenn is a subordinating conjunction, which means it kicks the conjugated verb (anruft) to the very end of its clause. It works exactly like a regular wenn clause, just with selbst added to mean 'even if'.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with the verb ändert?
The entire selbst wenn clause acts as the first block of information (Position 1) in the sentence. Since the main clause verb must be in Position 2, ändert has to come immediately after the comma, before its subject das.
Could I use auch wenn instead of selbst wenn here?
Yes, you can! Both mean 'even if' and act as subordinating conjunctions. Selbst wenn can sometimes sound slightly more extreme, emphasizing that the condition is highly unlikely, but they are fully interchangeable in this context.
The English translation implies a future event ('ever calls'). Why is the German sentence in the present tense?
German frequently uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when conditional words like wenn or time words like jemals (ever) make the future context obvious. Saying Selbst wenn er jemals anrufen wird would sound unnecessarily clunky to a native speaker.