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Questions & Answers about Die Temperatur im Zimmer steigt, obwohl der kalte Wind gegen die Wand weht.
Why is there a comma before obwohl?
In German, you set off a subordinate clause with a comma. obwohl is a subordinating conjunction (“although”), so you must place a comma before it to separate the main clause (Die Temperatur im Zimmer steigt) from the subordinate clause (obwohl der kalte Wind gegen die Wand weht).
Why does obwohl send the verb to the end of its clause?
Subordinating conjunctions like obwohl, weil, dass etc., change the word order: they push the finite verb to the very end of their clause. That’s why we have weht (not directly after obwohl) at the end.
Why is the verb in the main clause steigt instead of steigen?
Verbs must agree with their subject in person and number. Here the subject is Die Temperatur (feminine, singular), so you use the third‑person singular form steigt, not the infinitive steigen.
Why is im used instead of saying in dem Zimmer explicitly?
im is simply the contraction of in + dem (dative masculine/neuter). Zimmer is neuter, and because it indicates location (Wo? – “in the room”), we use the dative case: in dem Zimmer → im Zimmer.
Could we say ins Zimmer here? If not, why?
ins is a contraction of in + das (accusative neuter), and it implies movement into something (Wohin? – “to the room”). In our sentence, the temperature is already in the room (no movement), so we need im (dative, location), not ins (accusative, direction).
Why is the adjective kalte not kalten or kaltes?
der kalte Wind: Wind is masculine nominative, and after a definite article the adjective takes the weak ending -e in the nominative singular. That’s why you say kalte, not kalten (would be weak ending in another case/gender) or kaltes (strong ending required if no article were present).
Why is gegen followed by die Wand and not another case?
gegen is one of the “four‑accusative” prepositions (along with durch, für, ohne, etc.). It always takes the accusative case, so die Wand remains in the accusative. Since Wand is feminine, nominative die Wand = accusative die Wand.