Word
Wenn ihr euch die Zähne geputzt habt, kommt bitte zum Tisch.
Meaning
When you (plural) have brushed your teeth, please come to the table.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
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Questions & Answers about Wenn ihr euch die Zähne geputzt habt, kommt bitte zum Tisch.
Why does Wenn come at the beginning, and what effect does it have on the word order?
Wenn introduces a subordinate (conditional) clause—“if/when/once”—so the finite verb moves to the very end of that clause. You also need a comma to separate this subordinate clause from the main clause that follows.
How is the perfect tense formed in the subordinate clause, and why are geputzt and habt at the end?
In German, the perfect tense uses an auxiliary plus a past participle. Here the auxiliary is haben in the form habt (for ihr) and the participle is geputzt. In subordinate clauses, both parts go to the end, with the past participle immediately before the auxiliary: “…euch die Zähne geputzt habt.”
Why is euch used here, and why does it come before die Zähne?
Putzen (“to clean/brush”) is used reflexively when you brush your own teeth. Euch is the reflexive pronoun for ihr, in the dative case (you brush something for yourselves). In German the pronoun almost always precedes a noun, so euch comes before die Zähne.
Why is die Zähne in the accusative case?