Learn Hardcore German: Heute streiche ich den alten Zaun im Garten, weil die Farbe verblasst ist. - Today I am painting the old fence in the garden because the paint has faded.

Although both verbs can mean “to paint,” streichen is generally used when painting large surfaces or objects (walls, fences, doors), whereas malen is more often used for artistic painting (pictures) or small details. So when you paint a fence, you “streichen” it.

Why is it den alten Zaun and not der alte Zaun?

Zaun is a masculine noun (der Zaun). In the sentence streiche ich den alten Zaun, it’s the direct object of the verb “streichen.” German marks direct objects with the accusative case. The masculine definite article in the accusative singular is den, and the adjective alt takes the ending -en in the weak declension: den alten Zaun.

What does im Garten mean, and why is it im instead of ins?

im Garten means “in the garden.” It’s a contraction of in dem Garten. German uses the dative case after in when you indicate a static location (“where?”). The dative singular masculine/neuter article dem + in becomes im. If you were expressing movement into the garden (“into the garden”), you’d use in den Garten or ins Garten (ins = in + das), but here it’s just where the fence is.

Why does the verb in the clause introduced by weil come at the end?

Weil is a subordinating conjunction in German. In subordinate clauses, the conjugated (finite) verb moves to the very end. That’s why it’s ..., weil die Farbe verblasst ist rather than ..., weil ist die Farbe verblasst.

Is verblasst here an adjective or part of the verb phrase?

Here verblasst is the past participle of the verb verblassen (“to fade”) and is part of the perfect tense verb phrase verblasst ist (“has faded”). If you see verblasst before a noun (e.g. der verblasste Rock “the faded skirt”), it acts like an adjective.

Why do we say verblasst ist instead of simply verblasst?

To form the perfect tense in German you need an auxiliary verb (haben or sein) plus the past participle. Verbs that describe a change of state or movement (like verblassen) typically use sein as the auxiliary. So “the color has faded” becomes die Farbe ist verblasst in German.

Why use the perfect tense (verblasst ist) for the fading, but the simple present (streiche) for painting?

The present tense streiche indicates an action happening right now (“I’m painting today”). The perfect tense verblasst ist describes an action that happened in the past and is now completed or has a present result (“the color has already faded”). German often uses the perfect when speaking about past events in everyday language.