Breakdown of Bevor wir die Bücher zurückgeben, schreiben wir eine kurze Rezension.
wir
we
das Buch
the book
schreiben
to write
bevor
before
kurz
short
zurückgeben
to return
die Rezension
the review
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Questions & Answers about Bevor wir die Bücher zurückgeben, schreiben wir eine kurze Rezension.
Why does Bevor push the verb to the end in the first clause?
Because Bevor is a subordinate (or dependent) conjunction. In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb moves to the very end. So in Bevor wir die Bücher zurückgeben, zurückgeben ends up at the clause’s end.
Why is there a comma after zurückgeben?
German always requires a comma between a subordinate clause and the main clause. Here, Bevor wir die Bücher zurückgeben is the subordinate clause, and schreiben wir eine kurze Rezension is the main clause, so you must separate them with a comma.
Why is zurückgeben written together and at the end?
Zurückgeben is a separable-prefix verb. In its infinitive form (as here), the prefix zurück attaches directly to geben, forming one word. And because it’s in a subordinate clause, the infinitive verb naturally falls at the end.
Why does the main clause start with schreiben wir instead of wir schreiben?
After a subordinate clause, the main clause still follows the verb-second (V2) rule. The subordinate clause counts as the first element, so the finite verb schreiben moves into the second position, and the subject wir follows it—hence schreiben wir.
Why is die Bücher in the accusative case?
Die Bücher is the direct object of zurückgeben (“to return something”). In German, the direct object takes the accusative case. For plural nouns, the article is die in both nominative and accusative, so it looks the same here.
Why does the adjective kurze end with “-e” in eine kurze Rezension?
Rezension is feminine. After an indefinite article (eine), adjectives take the weak declension ending -e in both nominative and accusative feminine. Here eine kurze Rezension is the direct object of schreiben, so you use kurze.
Could you rephrase the sentence without using Bevor?
Yes. You can turn it into two main clauses joined by und:
Wir geben die Bücher zurück und schreiben eine kurze Rezension.
But if you keep Bevor, you must use the subordinate-clause structure and the comma rule.