Learn Hardcore German: Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, fällt mir Grammatiklernen oft schwer. - When I want to get ahead professionally, learning grammar is often hard for me.

Main clause word order (verb in 2nd position):
- Ich möchte beruflich weiterkommen.
  - möchte is in position 2, weiterkommen at the end.
Subordinate clause with wenn (verb at the end):
- Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, …
  - Subject ich, adverb beruflich, infinitive weiterkommen, and the conjugated verb möchte goes all the way to the end.

The entire verb group (weiterkommen möchte) is moved to the end because of wenn. This is a general rule for subordinating conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl etc.

Why is there a comma after möchte, and why does the next part start with fällt?

The comma separates the subordinate clause from the main clause:

Subordinate clause: Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte,
Main clause: fällt mir Grammatiklernen oft schwer.

In the main clause, German goes back to the normal verb‑second rule, so the finite verb must be in second position.

Because the entire wenn‑clause is treated as position 1, the main clause starts immediately with the verb in position 2:

Position 1: Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte,
Position 2 (first word of the main clause): fällt
- Then comes mir Grammatiklernen oft schwer.

If you used only the main clause, it would be:

Grammatiklernen fällt mir oft schwer.
– Subject first (Grammatiklernen), then the verb (fällt) in second position.

What does the expression fällt mir schwer mean, and how does it work grammatically?

fällt mir schwer comes from the verb fallen (to fall) plus the adjective schwer (heavy, difficult).

Literally, it is something like “falls heavy to me”, which idiomatically means:

“I find it difficult” / “It’s hard for me.”

Structure in the sentence:

Grammatiklernen – subject (what is falling)
fällt – verb (3rd person singular)
mir – indirect object in the dative (to me)
schwer – predicate adjective (describing how it falls = how it is for me)

So:

Grammatiklernen fällt mir oft schwer.
= Learning grammar is often difficult for me. / I often find learning grammar hard.

You can use this pattern with many things:

Mathe fällt mir leicht. – Math is easy for me.
Früh aufstehen fällt mir schwer. – Getting up early is hard for me.

What is the subject of fällt in fällt mir Grammatiklernen oft schwer?

The subject is Grammatiklernen, not ich or mir.

Word order here is:

fällt – verb (has to be in 2nd position)
mir – dative pronoun (to me)
Grammatiklernen – subject (the thing that “falls heavy”)
oft – adverb (often)
schwer – predicate adjective (difficult)

If you put it in a more “subject‑first” order, it becomes clearer:

Grammatiklernen fällt mir oft schwer.

So grammatically:

Subject: Grammatiklernen (3rd person singular → fällt)
Dative object: mir
Complement: schwer

Why is Grammatiklernen written as one capitalized word?

Because German can turn a verb phrase into a noun, a process often called nominalization.

Base phrase: Grammatik lernen – to learn grammar
Nominalized: (das) Grammatiklernen – the learning of grammar / grammar learning

Two key changes:

The verb lernen becomes a noun-like form and gets glued to Grammatik.
As a noun, it is capitalized: Grammatiklernen.

Some examples of the same pattern:

Deutsch lernen → das Deutschlernen
Auto fahren → das Autofahren
lesen → das Lesen

You could also say:

Das Lernen von Grammatik fällt mir oft schwer.
(also correct, a bit more formal/explicit)

What exactly does weiterkommen mean, and is it a separable verb?

weiterkommen is a separable prefix verb:

Base verb: kommen – to come
Prefix: weiter‑ – further, onward, ahead
Together: weiterkommen – to get ahead / to make progress / to advance

In the sentence, it is in infinitive form at the end of a clause with a modal verb (möchte), so it stays together as one word:

… ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte

In a normal main clause without another verb, it would separate:

Ich komme beruflich weiter. – I am getting ahead professionally.
(komme in 2nd position, weiter kicked to the end)

Other examples with weiterkommen:

Wie kann ich in meiner Karriere weiterkommen? – How can I advance in my career?
Ohne Deutschkenntnisse kommt man hier nicht weit(er). – Without German skills you don’t get far here.

What does beruflich mean, and could I say this in another way?

beruflich is an adjective/adverb meaning “professional(ly)” / “in terms of my job or career”.

In this sentence:

Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, …
= When I want to get ahead in my career / professionally, …

Other ways to say something similar:

Wenn ich in meinem Beruf weiterkommen möchte, …
Wenn ich in meiner Karriere vorankommen möchte, …

About word order: beruflich is an adverb describing in what area you want to get ahead, so it’s natural to put it before the verb it relates to:

Ich möchte beruflich weiterkommen.
Ich möchte in Deutschland beruflich weiterkommen.

Why is wenn used here and not wann or falls?

wenn, wann, and falls all translate to “when/if” in different contexts, but they are not interchangeable.

wenn is used for:
- repeated times: whenever
- conditions: if / when (this happens)
wann is used for:
- direct or indirect questions about time: when?
falls is used for:
- “in case”, a more hypothetical or cautious if

In your sentence:

Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, …
This is a general condition: If / whenever I want to progress professionally…

Using the others would be wrong or strange:

Wann ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, … – incorrect (sounds like a question fragment)
Falls ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, … – grammatically possible, but it sounds like you are not sure whether you will ever want that. wenn is the natural choice.

What is the nuance of möchte here compared to will?

Both möchte and will can be translated as “want to”, but they feel different:

möchte (literally the Konjunktiv II of mögen) is softer:
- would like to, more polite / less forceful, often used in spoken German.
will is stronger:
- expresses a firm intention or determination: I (really) want to / I intend to.

In the sentence:

Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, …
= If I want to get ahead professionally / if I would like to advance in my career …
→ sounds neutral and natural.

You could say:

Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen will, …
That sounds a bit more like a strong, determined intention: if I really want to get ahead.

Both are grammatically correct; möchte is simply more common and a bit softer.

Why is oft placed before schwer and not somewhere else?

oft is an adverb of frequency (often), and schwer is the adjective (hard, difficult) that belongs to fällt … schwer.

In Grammatiklernen fällt mir oft schwer:

fällt – verb
mir – to me
oft – how frequently
schwer – how it is (difficult)

Placing oft before schwer clearly tells you:

It is often that this is difficult.

Other possible orders:

Grammatiklernen fällt mir schwer, und das passiert oft.
(more separated, two statements)
Oft fällt mir Grammatiklernen schwer.
(emphasis on the frequency: Often, learning grammar is hard for me.)

But fällt mir Grammatiklernen oft schwer / Grammatiklernen fällt mir oft schwer are very natural; oft usually sits near the verb or right before the adjective/adverb it qualifies.

Could I also say “Grammatiklernen ist für mich oft schwer”? Is that the same?

Yes, you can say:

Grammatiklernen ist für mich oft schwer.

This is grammatically correct and understandable. Differences:

fällt mir schwer is:
- very idiomatic, very common
- slightly more emotional / experiential in feel (it falls heavy to me).
ist für mich schwer is:
- more literal, simpler: is difficult for me
- also fine, but fällt mir schwer sounds more native‑like in many contexts.

So:

Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, ist Grammatiklernen für mich oft schwer. – OK
Wenn ich beruflich weiterkommen möchte, fällt mir Grammatiklernen oft schwer. – more idiomatic, more typical German.