Learn Hardcore German: Die Psychologin sagt, wahre Nähe entstehe nur, wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst. - The psychologist says true closeness arises only when anonymity disappears and trust grows.

entsteht = 3rd person singular indicative (normal present):
- Wahre Nähe entsteht nur, wenn … – “True closeness only arises when …”
entstehe = 3rd person singular Konjunktiv I (subjunctive I), used for reported/indirect speech:
- Die Psychologin sagt, wahre Nähe entstehe nur, wenn …
  → “The psychologist says (that) true closeness only arises when …”

German often uses Konjunktiv I to distance the speaker from the statement and show it’s someone else’s claim.

In everyday spoken German, people often just use the indicative instead:

Die Psychologin sagt, wahre Nähe entsteht nur, wenn …
This is also grammatically fine, just a bit less “formal written” and less explicitly marked as reported speech.

Where exactly is the clause boundary after sagt, and why is there a comma there?

The structure is:

Die Psychologin sagt,
→ main clause (“The psychologist says”)
wahre Nähe entstehe nur, wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.
→ reported clause (what she says)

The comma after sagt separates the main clause from the reported clause (a type of subordinate content clause, similar to a dass-clause).

You could also write:

Die Psychologin sagt, dass wahre Nähe nur entstehe, wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.

German comma rules: a comma is required before dass-clauses and also before such content clauses even when dass is omitted, as here.

Why is there no dass after sagt? Could we add it?

Yes, you can add dass, and it would be perfectly correct:

Die Psychologin sagt, dass wahre Nähe nur entstehe, wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.

Differences:

Without dass:
- Die Psychologin sagt, wahre Nähe entstehe nur, wenn …
  This is a common written style for indirect speech: a comma + clause with Konjunktiv I and verb in position 2.
With dass:
- The clause is a clear dass-clause, normally with the finite verb at the end:
  - …, dass wahre Nähe nur entstehe, wenn …

Both are correct; omitting dass is slightly more compact and typical of written German with reports, news, etc.

Why is the word order “wahre Nähe entstehe nur” and not something like “nur wahre Nähe entstehe”?

In the reported clause, we have standard main-clause word order:

wahre Nähe = subject (position 1)
entstehe = finite verb (position 2)
nur = adverb in the “middle field” (after the finite verb)

So the “neutral” order is:

Wahre Nähe entstehe nur, wenn …
→ “True closeness arises only when …”

You could move nur, but the meaning changes slightly:

Nur wahre Nähe entstehe, wenn …
→ “Only true closeness arises when …” (emphasis on only true closeness, not on the condition)

So in the original, nur limits the circumstances (only when X, Y), not the kind of closeness. That’s why wahre Nähe entstehe nur is the natural choice here.

What exactly does wahre Nähe mean, and what is the gender and case of Nähe?

Nähe is a noun meaning “closeness, intimacy, nearness.”
In this context it’s emotional/relational closeness, not physical distance.
Gender: die Nähe (feminine)
Case in the sentence: Nominative singular, because it is the subject of entstehe.

The phrase:

wahre Nähe
- wahre = attributive adjective (“true, genuine”), agreeing in gender, case, and number:
  - die wahre Nähe – nominative feminine singular
- But since there is no article in this noun phrase, you just see: wahre Nähe.

So grammatically:

wahre (Adj., Nom. f. sg.) + Nähe (Noun, Nom. f. sg.)

Why is Die Psychologin feminine, and what is its grammatical role?

Psychologin is the feminine form of Psychologe (psychologist).
- der Psychologe – male psychologist
- die Psychologin – female psychologist
The article + noun here:
- die Psychologin
  is nominative singular feminine, and it is the subject of sagt.

So:

Die Psychologin sagt, …
→ “The (female) psychologist says …”

If it were a male psychologist, you’d write:

Der Psychologe sagt, …

What does wenn mean here, and why is the verb at the end in “wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst”?

In this sentence, wenn introduces a subordinate clause of condition (and also kind of general time):

wenn = “when / whenever” or “if,” in the sense of a general condition:
- “when anonymity disappears and trust grows”
- “if anonymity disappears and trust grows”

German subordinating conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl send the finite verb to the end of the clause:

wenn Anonymität verschwindet
- wenn (subordinating conjunction)
- Anonymität (subject)
- verschwindet (finite verb at the end)

Same for:

(wenn) … Vertrauen wächst
- Vertrauen (subject)
- wächst (finite verb at the end)

So the inner structure is:

wenn [Anonymität verschwindet] und [Vertrauen wächst]

Why isn’t wenn repeated before Vertrauen wächst (i.e., why not “wenn Anonymität verschwindet und wenn Vertrauen wächst”)?

German often does not repeat the subordinating conjunction when two clauses share the same wenn:

Full form (also correct, but heavier):
- … wenn Anonymität verschwindet und wenn Vertrauen wächst.
Natural, more elegant form:
- … wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.

The single wenn “governs” both coordinated parts (Anonymität verschwindet and Vertrauen wächst).
The meaning is the same: both conditions must be fulfilled.

Why is nur placed before the wenn-clause instead of inside it?

The phrase is:

wahre Nähe entstehe nur, wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.

Here, nur restricts the whole condition expressed by the wenn-clause:

“True closeness arises only when anonymity disappears and trust grows.”

You could move nur into the wenn-clause, but then the focus shifts:

Wahre Nähe entsteht, wenn nur Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.
→ This sounds odd or ambiguous, as if nur (“only”) is modifying Anonymität (“only anonymity”) or just that part of the condition, not the whole situation.

Placing nur before the wenn-clause clearly signals:

It’s not about what disappears; it’s about under which circumstances closeness arises (only under these conditions).

What are the genders of Anonymität and Vertrauen, and which cases are they in?

Anonymität
- Gender: die Anonymität (feminine)
- Here it is nominative singular, subject of verschwindet.
Vertrauen
- Gender: das Vertrauen (neuter)
- Here it is nominative singular, subject of wächst.

So inside the wenn-clause we have a coordination of two mini clauses:

Anonymität verschwindet
- Subject: Anonymität (Nom. sg. f.)
- Verb: verschwindet
Vertrauen wächst
- Subject: Vertrauen (Nom. sg. n.)
- Verb: wächst

Why is everything in the present tense even though this sounds like a general statement, not about a specific time?

German commonly uses the present tense for:

General truths
Timeless statements
Rules, principles, definitions

Here, the psychologist is stating a general principle about human relationships. English also uses present for that:

“True closeness arises only when anonymity disappears and trust grows.”

So the German present (sagt, entstehe, verschwindet, wächst) does not mean “right now only”; it expresses something that is generally valid.

Could we rephrase this sentence in a more “spoken” or simpler way without Konjunktiv?

Yes. A more colloquial / learner‑friendly version might be:

Die Psychologin sagt, dass wahre Nähe nur entsteht, wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.

Changes:

Added dass → clearly marks the subordinate clause.
Switched to entsteht (indicative) instead of entstehe (Konjunktiv I).
Word order stays basically the same.

This is very natural, especially in spoken German and informal writing, and is easier for learners to produce.

What is the basic literal structure of the sentence, piece by piece?

You can map it like this:

Die Psychologin – the psychologist (subject of sagt)
sagt, – says,
wahre Nähe – true closeness (subject of entstehe)
entstehe – arises / comes into being (Konjunktiv I)
nur, – only,
wenn – when / if
Anonymität – anonymity (subject of verschwindet)
verschwindet – disappears,
und – and
Vertrauen – trust (subject of wächst)
wächst. – grows.

Putting it back together:

Die Psychologin sagt,
wahre Nähe entstehe nur,
wenn Anonymität verschwindet und Vertrauen wächst.