Breakdown of Im Laufe des Gesprächs wurde er ruhiger.
ruhig
quiet, calm
werden
to become / to get (change of state)
das Gespräch
the conversation
im Laufe
in the course of
Questions & Answers about Im Laufe des Gesprächs wurde er ruhiger.
Why does Lauf have an -e at the end in im Laufe?
In older German, masculine and neuter nouns in the dative case often took an -e ending. Today, this rule is mostly dropped, but the ending survives in fixed expressions like im Laufe (in the course of) or zu Hause (at home).
Why is it des Gesprächs and not dem Gespräch?
The phrase im Laufe always triggers the genitive case for the noun that follows it, translating literally to 'in the course of'. Since Gespräch is a neuter noun (das Gespräch), it changes to des Gesprächs.
Why use wurde instead of war here?
wurde is the simple past tense of werden, which means 'to become' or 'to get'. Using war (was) would just describe his static condition ('he was calmer'), while wurde shows the actual process of change over time ('he grew calmer' or 'he became calmer').
Why is the subject er placed after the verb wurde?
German strictly requires the conjugated verb to be in the second position of a main clause. Because the phrase Im Laufe des Gesprächs takes up the entire first position, the verb wurde must come exactly second, pushing the subject er right after it.
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