Learn Hardcore German: Ich werde auch meiner Tante eine E-Mail schicken, falls sie noch mehr Fragen hat. - I will also send my aunt an email, in case she has more questions.

The sentence is in the future tense. In German, the future is often expressed by conjugating werden in the present tense followed by the main verb in its infinitive (here, schicken), which signals that the action will occur in the future.

Why is “meiner Tante” in the dative case instead of the nominative or accusative?

“Meiner Tante” is in the dative case because it serves as the indirect object—the recipient of the email. In German, when you indicate to whom something is sent, that noun takes the dative case, while the thing being sent (“eine E-Mail”) remains in the accusative case as the direct object.

What role does the adverb “auch” play in this sentence, and why is it positioned where it is?

The adverb auch means “also” or “too.” Its placement immediately after the auxiliary verb emphasizes that, in addition to any other actions or recipients implied in context, the speaker will send an email to their aunt. Its position helps to attach the extra information specifically to the action being described.

How is the subordinate clause beginning with “falls” structured, and why does the conjugated verb appear at the end?

The word falls is a subordinating conjunction meaning “if” or “in case.” In German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb is typically moved to the end of the clause. That’s why in “falls sie noch mehr Fragen hat,” the verb hat comes at the very end.

Why does the sentence place the dative object (“meiner Tante”) before the accusative object (“eine E-Mail”)?

German word order generally requires that when a sentence includes both a dative (indirect object) and an accusative (direct object), the dative object is placed before the accusative object—unless one of them is a pronoun. In this sentence, that standard rule applies, placing meiner Tante before eine E-Mail.

What does “noch mehr Fragen” mean, and how do the words “noch” and “mehr” contribute to its meaning?

The phrase noch mehr Fragen translates to “more questions” or “any further questions.” Noch can imply “still” or “in addition,” and when combined with mehr (meaning “more”), it emphasizes that there might be additional questions beyond what has already been discussed.