Die Heizung hatte den Raum schon erwärmt, als wir ankamen.

Die Heizung hatte den Raum schon erwärmt, als wir ankamen.
The heating had already warmed the room by the time we arrived.

Breakdown of Die Heizung hatte den Raum schon erwärmt, als wir ankamen.

wir
we
haben
to have
schon
already
ankommen
to arrive
als
when
die Heizung
the heating
der Raum
the room
erwärmen
to warm
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Questions & Answers about Die Heizung hatte den Raum schon erwärmt, als wir ankamen.

Why is hatte erwärmt used here instead of erwärmte (simple past) or hat erwärmt (perfect)?

This is the Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) tense in German. It indicates that the heating’s warming of the room was completed before another past event (our arrival). German uses the Plusquamperfekt to show the sequence of past events clearly.

  • Präteritum (simple past) like erwärmte could narrate the action but doesn’t mark the sequence as clearly.
  • Perfekt (hat erwärmt) is common in spoken German for past actions, but to highlight “this happened already before that,” German typically uses Plusquamperfekt in writing.
Why isn’t ankamen in Plusquamperfekt as well (for example, waren angekommen)?
Here, the arrival of “us” is the later past event, so it’s expressed in the “normal” past tense, the Präteritum (ankamen). Only the earlier action (the heating warming the room) needs Plusquamperfekt (hatte erwärmt). Using Plusquamperfekt again would suggest it happened before yet another reference point, which isn’t needed.
Why does the verb ankamen appear at the end of the clause?

Because als is a subordinating conjunction in German. Subordinating conjunctions (like als, weil, dass) push the finite verb to the very end of their clause. So the structure is:

  • Main clause: Die Heizung hatte den Raum schon erwärmt
  • Subordinate clause: als wir ankamen
    …with ankamen at the end.
Why is als used here instead of wenn or wann?
  • als is used for single, completed events in the past (e.g., “when we arrived” one time).
  • wenn is for repeated or habitual actions (“when I drink coffee, I feel awake”) or for future conditions (“if”).
  • wann is used only in questions (“When will we arrive?”).
    Since we’re talking about one specific past moment, als is correct.
Where does the adverb schon go in a sentence with compound verbs like hatte erwärmt, and could it appear somewhere else?

Adverbs like schon sit in the “Mittelfeld” (the space between the finite verb and the past participle). In this sentence, you can place schon either:

  • before the object: Die Heizung hatte schon den Raum erwärmt, or
  • after the object (as in the example): Die Heizung hatte den Raum schon erwärmt
    Both are grammatical; the difference is subtle and often a matter of emphasis or style.
Why is den Raum in the accusative case?
Because erwärmen is a transitive verb that takes a direct object. In German, direct objects are put in the accusative case. “Der Raum” (masculine) becomes den Raum when it’s the thing being warmed.
Can I replace schon with bereits? Are there other synonyms?

Yes, bereits is a more formal synonym of schon. For example:
Die Heizung hatte den Raum bereits erwärmt, als wir ankamen.
Other related words include schon längst (already long ago) or schon früher, depending on nuance. But bereits is the closest one-for-one substitute.

Why is haben used as the auxiliary verb for erwärmt rather than sein?
In German, most transitive verbs (those that take a direct object) form their perfect tenses with haben. Only a handful of verbs—mainly intransitive verbs indicating motion or change of state—use sein. Since erwärmen is transitive (“to warm something”), it uses haben as its auxiliary: hatte erwärmt.