Mein Lieblingsgericht braucht auch eine Zitrone, die ich mit einem Messer schneide.

My favorite dish also needs a lemon, which I cut with a knife.

Breakdown of Mein Lieblingsgericht braucht auch eine Zitrone, die ich mit einem Messer schneide.

• ich: I
• mit: with
• brauchen: to need
• auch: also
• mein: my
• schneiden: to cut
• das Lieblingsgericht: the favorite dish
• die Zitrone: the lemon
• das Messer: the knife

Questions & Answers about Mein Lieblingsgericht braucht auch eine Zitrone, die ich mit einem Messer schneide.

Why is Mein used before Lieblingsgericht instead of Meine or Meinem?

Mein is the correct possessive form because Gericht is a neuter noun (das Gericht) and the subject of the sentence is in the nominative case.

• Nominative, neuter, singular → mein (no ending): Mein Lieblingsgericht.
• If it were dative, you’d say meinem Lieblingsgericht.
• If the noun were feminine (e.g. Mein Lieblingsbeschreibung), you’d use meine.

How is the verb brauchen conjugated here, and why is braucht in second position?

brauchen is a regular verb. Present‑tense conjugation:
• ich brauche
• du brauchst
• er/sie/es braucht
• wir brauchen
• ihr braucht
• sie/Sie brauchen

In German main clauses, the finite verb must occupy the second position. Here the first element is Mein Lieblingsgericht, so the second slot is filled by braucht (3rd person singular).

Why is auch placed before eine Zitrone, and can its position change?

auch (“also/too”) is an adverb adding the idea that in addition to other ingredients, a lemon is needed.

• Placing auch before eine Zitrone emphasizes that the lemon is an extra ingredient.
• You can move auch, but the focus shifts:
  • Auch mein Lieblingsgericht braucht eine Zitrone. (Emphasizes that even my favorite dish needs a lemon.)
  • Mein Lieblingsgericht braucht auch eine Zitrone. (Emphasizes that the lemon is an additional need.)

Why is there a comma before die, and can you omit it?

In German, subordinate clauses—including relative clauses introduced by die—are always set off by commas. You must include the comma; omitting it is a punctuation error.

What is the function of die in die ich mit einem Messer schneide?

Here die is a relative pronoun referring back to Zitrone.

• It agrees in gender (feminine) and number (singular) with its antecedent.
• Inside the relative clause, ich is the subject and die is the direct object of schneiden, so die is in the accusative case.
  (For feminine singular, nominative and accusative both appear as die.)

Why is schneide at the end of the clause?

German subordinate clauses (like relative clauses) follow the verb‑final rule: the finite verb moves to the very end. Hence “ich schneide” becomes “ich mit einem Messer schneide.”

Why is it mit einem Messer and not mit eine Messer or mit Messer?

• The preposition mit always takes the dative case.
• Messer is neuter, so the dative form of ein Messer is einem Messer.
• Omitting the article (saying mit Messer) is unidiomatic here because Messer is countable; German normally requires an article with countable nouns.

How would the sentence change if you had plural lemons instead?

You drop the indefinite article in the plural:
Mein Lieblingsgericht braucht auch Zitronen, die ich mit einem Messer schneide.

• Zitronen is accusative plural (direct object).
• The relative pronoun stays die (accusative plural).