Breakdown of Wenn ich nichts esse, habe ich Hunger.
essen
to eat
ich
I
haben
to have
der Hunger
the hunger
wenn
if
nichts
nothing
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Questions & Answers about Wenn ich nichts esse, habe ich Hunger.
Why does the conjugated verb appear at the end in the clause Wenn ich nichts esse?
In German, any subordinate clause introduced by a conjunction like wenn, weil or dass must put its finite (conjugated) verb at the very end. So whereas in English you say “If I don’t eat anything…,” in German you must say Wenn ich nichts esse… (literally “When I nothing eat…”).
Why is there a comma after the wenn-clause?
A comma always separates a subordinate clause from the main clause in German. Since Wenn ich nichts esse is a subordinate clause, you write a comma before continuing with the main clause habe ich Hunger.
Why does the main clause read habe ich Hunger instead of ich habe Hunger?
German main clauses follow the “verb-second” (V2) rule: the finite verb must be the second element. Here, the entire Wenn-clause counts as the first element. To keep the verb in second position, the subject ich follows the verb, giving habe ich Hunger.
Why is nichts used here instead of kein?
nichts is an indefinite pronoun meaning “nothing.” kein is a negating article that must modify a specific noun (e.g. kein Brot “no bread”). Since the sentence expresses “nothing at all” rather than “no [specific thing],” you use nichts.
What grammatical case is nichts in?
It’s accusative neuter. In ich esse nichts, nichts functions as the direct object (what you eat).
Why isn’t there an article before Hunger?
In fixed expressions for sensations (hunger, thirst, fear), German typically drops the article. You say Hunger haben (“to have hunger”), not einen Hunger haben, when stating you’re hungry.
Why do Germans say Hunger haben rather than hungrig sein?
Both are grammatically correct, but German idiom prefers Hunger haben (literally “to have hunger”). Hungrig sein (“to be hungry”) is understood but less common in everyday speech.
Why is wenn used here instead of als?
Wenn expresses a general condition (“if/when ever this happens”). Als is only used for one-time events in the past. Because the sentence is a present-time conditional (“if I don’t eat”), you use wenn.
Can I switch the clauses and put the main clause first? What changes in word order?
Yes. You can say:
Ich habe Hunger, wenn ich nichts esse.
Now the main clause Ich habe Hunger comes first—so you keep subject-verb order there—and the subordinate wenn-clause still places its verb at the end.