Questions & Answers about Dein Anruf kam spät, aber er war sehr hilfreich.
Why is it Dein Anruf kam spät and not Dein Anruf war spät?
Because an Anruf (a call) is an event that arrives/comes, not a state that simply “is.” Germans say that events “come late”: Der Anruf kam spät (The call came late), just like Der Zug kam spät (The train came late). Use Es war spät only when talking about the time of day itself: Es war spät (It was late).
Why is the pronoun er used instead of es?
German pronouns must match the grammatical gender of their noun. Anruf is masculine (der Anruf), so you refer back with er: … aber er war sehr hilfreich. Using es would be wrong if you mean “the call.” You can use das/es to refer to an entire situation or action, e.g. after Du hast spät angerufen you can say … aber das war sehr hilfreich.
What case is Dein here, and why doesn’t it have an ending?
It’s nominative, because Dein Anruf is the subject. The possessive determiner dein behaves like ein:
- Masculine nominative: dein Anruf
- Masculine accusative: deinen Anruf
- Feminine: deine Nachricht
- Neuter: dein Handy
- Plural: deine Anrufe
Could I say Du hast spät angerufen instead? What’s the difference?