Unsere Pläne hängen vom Wetter ab.

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Breakdown of Unsere Pläne hängen vom Wetter ab.

• das Wetter: the weather
• der Plan: the plan
• abhängen von: to depend on

Questions & Answers about Unsere Pläne hängen vom Wetter ab.

Why is it “vom Wetter” and not “von das Wetter”?

In German, “von dem” often contracts to “vom”.

• von + dem Wetter → vom Wetter

You need “dem” (dative singular) because the preposition von always takes the dative case.

• das Wetter = nominative/accusative (dictionary form)
• dem Wetter = dative

So the fully “uncontracted” version would be “von dem Wetter”, but in normal speech and writing, people almost always use “vom Wetter”.

Why does “Wetter” not change its form in the dative? It looks the same as in the dictionary.

Wetter is a neuter noun:

• nominative: das Wetter
• dative: dem Wetter

In the singular, many neuter nouns don’t add any ending in the dative; only the article changes:

• nominative: das Wetter
• dative: dem Wetter

So “Wetter” itself stays the same; the case is shown by “dem” (which is contracted in the sentence to “vom” = von + dem).

What is the subject of the sentence?