Breakdown of Später lege ich die gebratenen Zwiebeln auf ein Stück Brot.
das Brot
the bread
ich
I
später
later
auf
on
legen
to place
gebraten
fried
die Zwiebel
the onion
das Stück
the piece
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Questions & Answers about Später lege ich die gebratenen Zwiebeln auf ein Stück Brot.
Why is Später at the beginning of the sentence and where is the conjugated verb?
German main clauses follow the Verb-Second (V2) rule: the finite verb must occupy the second position. By placing the time adverb Später first, the verb lege moves to slot two.
Why does auf appear at the end of the sentence rather than attached to legen?
Because auflegen is a separable-prefix verb. In main-clause word order the prefix auf detaches and goes to the very end: you get lege … auf.
What case is die gebratenen Zwiebeln and how can I identify it?
They’re in the accusative plural as the direct object of legen (what you are laying). The article die happens to look the same in nominative and accusative plural, so you know it’s accusative from its role as the object.
Why does auf take the accusative with ein Stück Brot instead of the dative?
Auf is a two-way preposition. When you indicate movement onto something (placing onions onto bread), you use the accusative. If you were merely describing location (where they lie), you’d use the dative.
Why does gebratenen end with –en and not –e or –es?
With a definite article (die) and a plural noun in the accusative, adjectives follow the weak declension and take –en: die gebratenen Zwiebeln.
Why is it ein Stück Brot and not einem Stück Brot?
Stück is a neuter noun, so the accusative singular article is ein (same as nominative). Brot functions here as a modifier (“piece of bread”) and doesn’t need its own article.
Can I omit the article before gebratenen Zwiebeln to make it more general?
Yes. For a general statement you can say Später lege ich gebratene Zwiebeln auf ein Stück Brot. Without the article, adjectives switch to strong declension and take –e (gebratene).
Why is Brot capitalized in the middle of the sentence?
All German nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in a sentence.
Can I replace Später with another time expression, and will the word order change?
Absolutely. You can front any single element (e.g. Morgen, Am Nachmittag) and the verb still sits in second position. Everything else follows after the verb.