Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat.

She only lies when she has a lot of stress.

Breakdown of Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat.

• haben: to have
• viel: much
• sie: she
• nur: only
• wenn: when
• lügen: to lie
• der Stress: the stress

Questions & Answers about Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat.

What exactly does nur mean here? Is it “only”, “just”, or something else?

In this sentence nur means “only” in the sense of “and not in other situations.”

• Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat.
  → She lies only when she has a lot of stress (and not at other times).

It doesn’t mean “just” in a minimizing sense here (like “she’s just lying, no big deal”), but rather restricts the situation in which she lies.

What’s the difference between wenn and wann? Why is wenn used here?

Wenn and wann are not interchangeable:

• wenn = when / whenever / if
  Used for:

  • repeated events: Wenn ich müde bin, trinke ich Kaffee.
  • general conditions: Wenn es regnet, bleibe ich zu Hause.

• wann = when? (question word)
  Used for:

  • direct questions: Wann kommst du?
  • indirect questions: Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt.

In Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat, we have a condition/general case (“whenever she has a lot of stress”), so wenn is correct. Wann here would be wrong.

Why is the verb hat at the end of the wenn-clause?

Because wenn sie viel Stress hat is a subordinate clause.

In German, in a subordinate clause introduced by words like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl, the conjugated verb goes to the end:

• Main clause: Sie hat viel Stress. → verb in 2nd position
• Subordinate clause: ... wenn sie viel Stress hat. → verb at the end

Pattern:
wenn + subject + (objects/adverbs) + finite verb (hat)

Could I also say Nur wenn sie viel Stress hat, lügt sie? Is that the same meaning?

Yes, and it’s very natural German.

• Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat.
• Nur wenn sie viel Stress hat, lügt sie.

Both mean essentially the same: she lies only under that condition.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Sie lügt nur, wenn ...
  Slightly more focus on her lying and the restriction.
• Nur wenn sie viel Stress hat, lügt sie.
  Stronger focus on the condition at the start.

Grammatically, both are correct and common.

Why is there a comma before wenn?

In German, subordinate clauses must be separated by a comma from the main clause.

• Sie lügt nur, main clause
• wenn sie viel Stress hat. subordinate clause

Rule: Before conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl, während, bevor, you put a comma because they introduce a subordinate clause.

Can I leave out the second sie and just say …wenn viel Stress hat?

No. In German you cannot drop the subject pronoun in finite clauses (unlike in Spanish or Italian).

Every clause needs its own explicit subject:

• Main clause: Sie lügt nur,
• Subordinate clause: wenn sie viel Stress hat.

Leaving out sie in the subordinate clause would be incorrect:
✗ …wenn viel Stress hat

How do I know Sie here means “she” and not “they” or formal “you”?

You can tell from the verb form:

• lügt and hat are 3rd person singular forms.
• If it were “they” or formal “you” (Sie), the verbs would be plural:
  • sie/Sie lügen, sie/Sie haben

So:

• Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat. → she
• Sie lügen nur, wenn sie viel Stress haben. → they or you (formal)

At the beginning of a sentence, Sie is always capitalized anyway, so the verb endings are what disambiguate it.

What’s the difference between lügen and liegen? They look and sound similar.

They are completely different verbs:

• lügen – to lie (not tell the truth)

  • ich lüge
  • du lügst
  • er/sie/es lügt
  • Präteritum: er log
  • Partizip II: er hat gelogen

• liegen – to lie (be in a horizontal position)

  • ich liege
  • du liegst
  • er/sie/es liegt
  • Präteritum: er lag
  • Partizip II: er hat gelegen

In the sentence Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat, it must be lügt (from lügen), because the meaning is about not telling the truth, not about physical position.

Why is it viel Stress and not viele Stress?

Because Stress is treated as an uncountable (mass) noun in German, like “water” or “money” in English.

• For uncountable nouns: use viel (no -e)

  • viel Wasser
  • viel Geld
  • viel Stress

• For countable plural nouns: use viele

  • viele Bücher
  • viele Leute
  • viele Probleme

So viel Stress is correct here.

Could I say Sie lügt nur, wenn sie sehr gestresst ist instead? Is that the same?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct and very natural:

• Sie lügt nur, wenn sie viel Stress hat.
  → literally “when she has a lot of stress”

• Sie lügt nur, wenn sie sehr gestresst ist.
  → “when she is very stressed”

The meaning is almost the same.
Viel Stress haben focuses on the amount of stress (as a noun),
sehr gestresst sein focuses on her state (adjective).

How should I pronounce the ü in lügt?

The German ü is a fronted, rounded vowel:

1. Say English “ee” as in “see”.
2. Keep your tongue in that position.
3. Now round your lips as if saying “oo” in “too”.

That sound is ü.
So lügt is roughly like “lyoogt”, but with that special ü sound, not a plain “oo”.