Breakdown of Wahrscheinlich bemerkt niemand die kleine Änderung im Plan.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
klein
small
der Plan
the plan
niemand
no one
wahrscheinlich
probably
bemerken
to notice
die
the; (feminine, accusative)
die Änderung
the change
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Questions & Answers about Wahrscheinlich bemerkt niemand die kleine Änderung im Plan.
Why is wahrscheinlich at the beginning of the sentence, and how does it affect the rest of the word order?
In German you can place certain adverbs (like wahrscheinlich) in the Vorfeld (pre-field). Because German requires the finite verb in second position (the V2 rule), the verb bemerkt immediately follows wahrscheinlich, and the subject niemand comes third. This ordering (Adverb – Verb – Subject) is perfectly normal and emphasizes the likelihood aspect of the sentence.
What part of speech is niemand, and why is there no article before it?
Niemand is an indefinite pronoun meaning “no one.” As a pronoun it already replaces a noun plus any article, so you don’t need (and cannot use) an article in front of it. Here it functions as the subject of the sentence.
Why is die kleine Änderung in the accusative case and what is its gender?
It’s in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb bemerkt (what nobody notices). Änderung is a feminine noun in German, so its definite article in the accusative is die.
Why does the adjective kleine end in -e in die kleine Änderung?
After a definite article, German adjectives take the weak declension. For feminine singular in the accusative the adjective ending is -e, hence kleine.
What case is im Plan, and why is it contracted?
Im is the contraction of in dem, combining the preposition in (which can govern either dative or accusative) with the dative article dem. Here it’s dative because the phrase expresses a static location (“in the plan”), so im Plan means “in the plan.”
The sentence is in the present tense. Why can it still refer to a future or hypothetical situation?
In German it’s very common to use the simple present tense for future events or hypotheticals, especially with modal adverbs like wahrscheinlich. You don’t need to switch to the future tense (Futur I) to talk about something that will happen or might happen.
Should there be a comma after wahrscheinlich, like in English (“Probably, nobody notices…”)?
No. German comma rules differ from English. You only place commas before subordinate clauses, between coordinate clauses, or in lists—not between a sentence adverb and the verb.
Could you also express this idea in the German future tense?
Yes. If you want to be explicit about future time, you can use Futur I:
Wahrscheinlich wird niemand die kleine Änderung im Plan bemerken.
However, the present tense version is more common in everyday German.