Learn Hardcore German: Gestern frühstückten wir schnell, weil der Wettbewerb früh anfing. - Yesterday we had breakfast quickly because the competition started early.

Word

Gestern frühstückten wir schnell, weil der Wettbewerb früh anfing.

Meaning

Yesterday we had breakfast quickly because the competition started early.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore German

Lesson

Lesson 24

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Questions & Answers about Gestern frühstückten wir schnell, weil der Wettbewerb früh anfing.

Why is frühstückten used instead of haben gefrühstückt?

Because the sentence is in the Präteritum (simple past), which is often used in written narratives or formal registers. Frühstückten is the 1 st person plural Präteritum form of frühstücken. In spoken or informal German, you’d typically use the Perfekt:
Gestern haben wir schnell gefrühstückt, …

How does the word order work in Gestern frühstückten wir schnell?

Gestern is a temporal adverbial placed in the first position to set the time frame. German follows the “Time-Manner-Place” (TMP) rule for adverbials, and when an adverbial comes first, the finite verb occupies the second slot, causing subject-verb inversion:
[Adverbial] + Verb + Subject + …
so you get Gestern frühstückten wir …

Why is schnell placed right after the verb, and can I move it elsewhere?

Schnell is a manner adverb describing how you had breakfast, so it usually follows the verb or the verb phrase. You could say Wir frühstückten gestern schnell or Wir frühstückten schnell gestern, but both change emphasis or sound less natural than placing schnell immediately after the verb.

Why is there a comma before weil?

In German, subordinate clauses introduced by subordinating conjunctions (like weil, dass, wenn) must be set off with commas. Hence the comma before weil signals the start of the subordinate clause.

Why does anfing appear at the end of the subordinate clause?

Because in German subordinate clauses the finite (conjugated) verb is sent to the clause-final position. So everything else comes before it, and anfing ends up at the very end.

What is the infinitive of anfing, and why do the parts stick together here?

The infinitive is anfangen (to begin). It’s a separable-prefix verb.

In main clauses (Präsens/Präteritum) you split it: Er fing früh an.
In subordinate clauses, the finite verb plus prefix reattach and then go to the end as one unit: …, weil er früh anfing.
Also note that anfangen is irregular: the stem vowel changes from a → i in the Präteritum.

What’s the difference between the two früh elements in the sentence?

They look alike but function differently:

frühstückten comes from das Frühstück (breakfast) and means to have breakfast.
früh in früh anfing is an adverb meaning early.

Why is it der Wettbewerb and not den Wettbewerb?

Der Wettbewerb is the subject of the subordinate clause weil der Wettbewerb früh anfing. Wettbewerb is masculine, singular, and here in the nominative case, so it takes der.

Can I use the Perfekt tense instead of the Präteritum here?

Yes. In spoken or informal German you’d usually say:
Gestern haben wir schnell gefrühstückt, weil der Wettbewerb früh angefangen hat.

Could the sentence start with the subordinate clause?

Absolutely. Just place the subordinate clause first, keep the comma, and maintain verb-second in the main clause:
Weil der Wettbewerb früh anfing, frühstückten wir gestern schnell.