Breakdown of Jedes Semester wiederhole ich alle neuen Wörter.
neu
new
ich
I
alle
all
wiederholen
to review
jedes
every
das Wort
the word
das Semester
the semester
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching German grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Jedes Semester wiederhole ich alle neuen Wörter.
Why does Jedes Semester come at the very beginning of the sentence, and what effect does that have on word order?
Putting Jedes Semester first makes it the “first position” in the clause. German main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule:
- Element 1: Jedes Semester (time adverbial)
- Element 2: wiederhole (the finite verb)
- Element 3: ich (the subject)
This order emphasizes when something happens. You could swap positions for other emphases, but the verb must remain second.
Why isn’t there a preposition like in before Jedes Semester?
German often expresses time directly in the accusative case without a preposition (e.g. jeden Tag, letzten Monat, diesen Sommer). These are called “accusative time expressions.” You could say in jedem Semester, but it’s not required.
Why is it jedes and not jeder or jedem in Jedes Semester?
Semester is a neuter noun (das Semester). In the singular accusative (used for many time expressions), the indefinite pronoun jed- takes the neuter ending -es, giving jedes Semester.
What case is alle neuen Wörter in, and how can I tell?
Alle neuen Wörter is the direct object of wiederhole, so it’s in the accusative case. Clues:
- It follows the verb and answers “what?” (What do I repeat? All the new words.)
- In plural accusative with alle, the adjective uses the weak ending -en.
Why is the adjective neu inflected as neuen?
After a determiner like alle, adjectives take the weak declension. In plural (nominative and accusative), the weak ending is -en, hence neuen.
Why do we say Wörter (with an umlaut) and not Worte?
German has two plurals for Wort:
- Wörter: individual, countable words or vocabulary items
- Worte: words in a collective or quoted sense (e.g. “famous words”).
Since you’re talking about reviewing vocabulary (individual items), you use Wörter.
Could I also say Ich wiederhole alle neuen Wörter jedes Semester? Does it change anything?
Yes, that word order is perfectly fine. You’d then follow the neutral Subject-Verb-Object-Time pattern. Meaning stays the same; only the emphasis shifts slightly (now you start on ich rather than Jedes Semester).
How do I turn this into a yes/no question?
Swap the finite verb and subject (V1 for questions):
Wiederhole ich jedes Semester alle neuen Wörter?
If you want to add a question word:
Wann wiederholst du alle neuen Wörter? (When do you repeat all the new words?)