Das Wetter verändert sich oft.

The weather changes often.

Breakdown of Das Wetter verändert sich oft.

• oft: often
• das Wetter: the weather
• sich verändern: to change

Questions & Answers about Das Wetter verändert sich oft.

Why is sich used after verändert?

Because sich verändern is a reflexive verb. In this construction the subject (“the weather”) is performing the action on itself (“changes itself”), so German requires the reflexive pronoun sich in the accusative for third person.

What case is sich here and why?

It’s the accusative case. When a verb is reflexive and no other direct object is present, German uses the accusative reflexive pronoun. For third person that pronoun is always sich in both masculine, feminine and neuter.

Is verändert in the past tense? How do I know it’s present?

It’s present tense. You can tell because the verb stem verändern takes -t for third person singular present (verändert). In simple past it would be veränderte, and in the conversational perfect you’d say hat sich verändert.

Why does verändert come in second position even though sich follows it?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be the second element. Here “Das Wetter” is element one, so verändert goes second. The reflexive pronoun sich comes after the conjugated verb.

Can I use ändern instead of here?