Das Team arbeitet am längsten, wenn die Stimmung am besten ist.

The team works the longest when the mood is at its best.

Breakdown of Das Team arbeitet am längsten, wenn die Stimmung am besten ist.

• sein: to be
• arbeiten: to work
• wenn: when
• das Team: the team
• die Stimmung: the mood

Questions & Answers about Das Team arbeitet am längsten, wenn die Stimmung am besten ist.

Why is am längsten used instead of just länger or längst?

am längsten is the superlative form (the “longest”) when describing duration with verbs.

• länger is the comparative (“longer”).
• längst is an absolute superlative used without am, but mostly in fixed expressions (e.g. längst überfällig = long overdue).
  To say “works the longest,” German uses am + adjective + -en.

How exactly do you form the superlative with am in German?

The pattern is:

1. Take the adjective or adverb (here lang).
2. Add -sten or -sten depending on the ending (here längst with an umlaut).
3. Precede it with am (which is a contraction of an dem, but here it’s just the standard superlative marker).
   So: lang → längst → am längsten.
   You use this to say “in the most … manner” or “for the most … time.”

Why is am besten used in the second clause and what does it mean here?

am besten is the superlative of gut (good), meaning “best.” In wenn die Stimmung am besten ist, it literally means “when the mood is at its best.”
Here it indicates the optimal condition under which the team’s work lasts the longest.

Why does the sentence use wenn and not wann?

• wenn introduces a conditional or repeated situation (“whenever” or “if”).
• wann is used for direct or indirect questions about time (“when?”).
  Since the sentence states a general condition, wenn is correct.

Why is the verb ist placed at the end of the clause wenn die Stimmung am besten ist?

wenn creates a subordinate clause in German, which sends the conjugated verb to the final position. The structure is:
Subordinating conjunction (wenn) + subject (die Stimmung) + rest + verb (ist).

Why is Das Team neuter and why is the article das used?

Team is a neuter noun in German (borrowed from English). All neuter nouns take das in the nominative singular. Even though das also appears in “am,” here it’s simply the definite article for Team.

Why is the simple present arbeitet used rather than a past tense or a continuous form?

German commonly uses the simple present for:

• Habits or repeated actions (“The team generally works…”).
• General truths.
  There’s no separate continuous aspect in German, so arbeitet covers both “works” and “is working” in this context.

What’s the nuance between Stimmung and Laune in German?

• Stimmung refers to the overall atmosphere or collective mood (of a group, event or environment).
• Laune is more about an individual’s personal mood (“on a good/bad mood”).
  Here Stimmung fits because it’s about the team’s shared atmosphere.