Breakdown of Mein Bruder mietet ein Segelboot, wenn die Wellen ruhig sind.
sein
to be
mein
my
ruhig
calm
der Bruder
the brother
wenn
when
mieten
to rent
das Segelboot
the sailboat
die Welle
the wave
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Questions & Answers about Mein Bruder mietet ein Segelboot, wenn die Wellen ruhig sind.
Why do we use mietet here, and what exactly does mieten mean? Why don't we use vermieten?
Mieten means to rent or to hire from the renter’s perspective. Your brother is the one doing the renting, so he mietet a sailboat. Vermieten means to rent out (from the owner’s point of view). Since your brother is the renter, not the owner, you use mieten, conjugated in the 3rd person singular present: er mietet.
Why is the verb sind placed at the very end of the clause wenn die Wellen ruhig sind?
In German subordinate clauses introduced by subordinating conjunctions (like wenn, dass, weil), you follow the verb-last rule: the finite verb must go to the end. That’s why sind appears after ruhig.
What’s the difference between wenn, falls and als, and why is wenn used here?
- Wenn can mean both when (for repeated or habitual events) and if (for conditions). Here it expresses a condition: if the waves are calm.
- Falls also means if, but often suggests more doubt or formality.
- Als is used for single, past events (when I was young) and cannot express general conditions or future scenarios.
How is wenn different from wann?
- Wenn is a conjunction used in conditional or temporal subordinate clauses (if/when).
- Wann is an interrogative adverb meaning when in direct questions (e.g. Wann sind die Wellen ruhig?). You don’t use wann to introduce a subordinate clause.
Why do we use the present tense (mietet, sind) to talk about a future situation?
German commonly uses the present tense for future events, especially in spoken language and in conditional clauses. It’s concise and idiomatic. Although wird mieten and werden … sein would be grammatically correct, they sound unnecessarily cumbersome here.
Why is it ein Segelboot and not einen Segelboot?
Segelboot is a neuter noun (das Boot). As the direct object, it takes the accusative case, and the neuter accusative indefinite article is ein (identical to the nominative). Hence ein Segelboot is correct.
Why is there a comma before wenn?
German requires a comma before any subordinating conjunction (such as wenn, dass, weil). Therefore you write:
Mein Bruder mietet ein Segelboot, wenn die Wellen ruhig sind.
How do I know that die Wellen is in the nominative case?
In wenn die Wellen ruhig sind, die Wellen functions as the subject of the clause (they are the ones “being calm”), so it takes the nominative plural form. The plural nominative article is die.
Why is mein the correct form in Mein Bruder and not meiner?
Bruder is masculine singular and here it’s the subject, so it needs the nominative case. The nominative masculine singular possessive “my” is mein. Meiner would be used in the genitive or dative case, but not here.
What gender is Segelboot, and how can I tell?
Segelboot is neuter (das Segelboot). Many German nouns ending in -boot, -um, -ment are neuter, but there are exceptions. The most reliable method is to learn each noun together with its article: das Segelboot.