Bevor ich trainiere, dehne ich meine Muskeln vorsichtig.

I

Breakdown of Bevor ich trainiere, dehne ich meine Muskeln vorsichtig.

• mein: my; (masculine or neuter, nominative)
• bevor: before
• trainieren: to train

Questions & Answers about Bevor ich trainiere, dehne ich meine Muskeln vorsichtig.

Why does the conjugated verb trainiere appear at the end of the clause Bevor ich trainiere?

In German, any clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction like Bevor follows the verb-final rule: the finite verb moves to the very end of that subordinate clause.

Why is there a comma after Bevor ich trainiere?

German requires a comma to separate a subordinate clause (here starting with Bevor) from the main clause. This holds whether the subordinate clause comes first or second.

Why do I say meine Muskeln instead of a reflexive pronoun like mich?

Here dehnen is used as a transitive verb taking die Muskeln (accusative plural) as its object. If you used a reflexive construction, you’d say ich dehne mich, which is also correct but focuses on the whole body rather than specifically on the muscles.

Is it correct to say Ich dehne mich vorsichtig instead of meine Muskeln?

Yes, ich dehne mich vorsichtig (using the reflexive sich dehnen) is perfectly acceptable. It’s just a slightly different nuance: meine Muskeln specifies what you stretch; mich makes it more general.

Why is the adverb at the end of the sentence? Can I move it?