Learn Hardcore German: Während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown waren kleine Mitteilungen per Handy sehr wichtig. - During the long loneliness in lockdown, small messages by phone were very important.

German main clauses follow the verb‑second rule: the conjugated verb must be in second position, but “second” means second element, not second word.

Here, the first element is the whole prepositional phrase Während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown (“during the long loneliness in lockdown”). Because that entire chunk counts as position 1, the verb waren has to come next in position 2:

Position 1: Während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown
Position 2: waren
Rest of the clause: kleine Mitteilungen per Handy sehr wichtig

So the order is: [time phrase] – [verb] – [subject + rest], which is completely normal in German.

What is während here – a preposition or a conjunction – and how do I know?

In this sentence, während is a preposition, not a conjunction.

As a preposition, it’s followed directly by a noun (or noun phrase) in a case:
- Während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown …
  Here the noun is Einsamkeit with its article and adjective: der langen Einsamkeit.
As a conjunction, während would introduce a subordinate clause with a finite verb at the end:
- Während wir im Lockdown waren, waren kleine Mitteilungen per Handy sehr wichtig.
  (Here während introduces wir im Lockdown waren, and waren goes to the end of that clause.)

A quick test:
If während is followed directly by a noun phrase → it’s a preposition.
If it’s followed by a subject + verb clause → it’s a subordinating conjunction.

Why is it der langen Einsamkeit and not die lange Einsamkeit after während?

Because während as a preposition normally takes the genitive case.

The noun is Einsamkeit, which is feminine.
Feminine genitive singular of the definite article is der.
The adjective lang before a definite article in feminine genitive singular gets the ending -en: langen.

So we get:

während + der + langen + Einsamkeit
→ während der langen Einsamkeit

If it were nominative (e.g. as subject), you’d have:

Die lange Einsamkeit war schwer.

I sometimes hear people say während der Zeit with dative. Is während genitive or dative?

Standard written German uses genitive after während:

während der langen Einsamkeit (genitive)
während des Lockdowns (genitive)

In colloquial spoken German, especially in some regions, people often use the dative instead:

während der langen Einsamkeit (they sound the same here, because dative feminine singular is also der)
But with masculine or neuter you’d notice:
Standard: während des Lockdowns (genitive)
Colloquial: während dem Lockdown (dative)

For learners, it’s best to stick to the genitive after während in writing and in careful speech.

Why is it Im Lockdown and not something like in den Lockdown?

Im is the contraction of in dem (preposition in + dative article dem).

Here, im Lockdown expresses being in a state or period (inside a fixed situation), not movement into something. In German:

in + dative = location or state (where? / in what situation?):
- im Lockdown – in lockdown
- im Urlaub – on vacation
in + accusative = movement into (where to?):
- in den Lockdown gehen – to go into lockdown (enter that state)

Since the sentence talks about the time while we were in lockdown, the dative (im Lockdown) is correct.

What case is kleine Mitteilungen in, and why doesn’t it have an article?

Kleine Mitteilungen is nominative plural, and it’s the subject of the sentence.

The verb waren (3rd person plural) agrees with a plural subject.
In indefinite plural in German (some, not a specific group), you can and often do omit the article:
- Mitteilungen waren wichtig. – Messages were important.
- Kleine Mitteilungen waren wichtig. – Small messages were important.

Adjective ending:

Nominative plural with no article → adjective takes strong ending -e:
- kleine Mitteilungen

If you added a definite article, it would be:

Die kleinen Mitteilungen waren sehr wichtig.

Why is it waren and not war?

Because the subject is plural: kleine Mitteilungen.

Mitteilungen is the plural of Mitteilung.
The verb sein conjugates:
- er/sie/es war – singular
- sie waren – plural “they were”

So:

Die Mitteilung war wichtig. – The (single) message was important.
Die Mitteilungen waren wichtig. – The messages were important.
In your sentence: kleine Mitteilungen … waren sehr wichtig.

How can I tell that kleine Mitteilungen per Handy is the subject, not an object, when it comes after the verb?

German doesn’t rely only on word order to show grammatical roles; it mainly uses case endings and verb agreement.

Clues:

Verb agreement
The verb waren is 3rd person plural → its subject must be plural.
Mitteilungen is plural, so it’s a good candidate.
Case
Nominative plural (subject) of Mitteilung is Mitteilungen.
There’s no article here, but the form matches nominative plural.
Typical pattern
With a fronted time phrase, it’s normal German word order to put:
- Time phrase → verb → subject → rest
- Während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown waren [SUBJECT] sehr wichtig.

So kleine Mitteilungen per Handy is the subject phrase, even though it comes after the verb.

Why is it kleine Mitteilungen and not kleinen Mitteilungen?

Because kleine Mitteilungen is in the nominative plural with no article.

Adjective endings in nominative plural:

With no article: kleine Mitteilungen (strong ending -e)
With definite article: die kleinen Mitteilungen (weak ending -en)
With indefinite article, plural doesn’t exist, so we say:
- (keine) kleinen Mitteilungen – with keine the adjective gets -en

In your sentence, there is no article, so you choose the strong -e ending: kleine Mitteilungen.

What’s the difference between Mitteilungen, Nachrichten, and SMS? Would they all work here?

All three are related to “messages”, but with different nuances:

Mitteilung
- Neutral/quite general “communication”, “message”, often slightly formal.
- Can be any message: written, spoken, official, private.
Nachricht
- Also message, but strongly associated with news / information.
- Also used for text messages in everyday speech:
  - Ich schicke dir eine Nachricht. – I’ll send you a (text) message.
SMS
- Originally specifically an SMS text message (via mobile phone).
- Now sometimes used more broadly, but still strongly “phone text”.

In this sentence:

kleine Mitteilungen per Handy sounds like short messages via phone, a bit neutral/formal.
kleine Nachrichten per Handy would also work, slightly more everyday.
kleine SMS would sound specifically like text messages / SMS.

All could be used, but the nuance shifts slightly.

What does per Handy mean exactly, and how is per used in German?

Per Handy means “via mobile phone / by mobile phone”.

The preposition per in German is often used for means, channels, or routes of communication/transport:

per Handy – by mobile phone
per E-Mail – by email
per Post – by post
per WhatsApp – via WhatsApp

It usually takes the accusative, but in many cases the form doesn’t change so you don’t notice.

A more everyday alternative would be:

mit dem Handy – with the mobile phone
übers Handy – via the phone (colloquial)

In this sentence, per Handy is idiomatic and slightly neutral/formal.

Why is Handy used to mean “mobile phone” in German?

In German, das Handy means mobile phone / cell phone. It’s a false friend:

English handy = useful, convenient
German Handy = mobile phone

It likely developed from English-sounding marketing language in German-speaking countries, and then became the normal word.

So per Handy = “by mobile phone”, not “by something handy”.

Why is sehr wichtig at the end? Could I say waren sehr wichtige kleine Mitteilungen per Handy?

In German, the typical pattern is to put the main verb early and many other elements, including adjectives like sehr wichtig, later in the clause.

In your sentence:

waren – finite verb (position 2)
kleine Mitteilungen per Handy – subject phrase
sehr wichtig – predicate adjective at the end

This is very natural:
… waren kleine Mitteilungen per Handy sehr wichtig.

You could grammatically say:

… waren sehr wichtige kleine Mitteilungen per Handy.

But that changes the meaning slightly:

sehr wichtige kleine Mitteilungen makes “very important small messages” sound like a specific, described type of messages, stressing “very important”.
waren … sehr wichtig states as a comment about the whole situation that these messages were very important.

The original version focuses on their importance as a statement rather than making “very important small messages” a fixed noun phrase.

Can I move the parts around, like Kleine Mitteilungen per Handy waren während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown sehr wichtig? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, that word order is correct, and the basic meaning stays the same.

Two common variants:

Während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown waren kleine Mitteilungen per Handy sehr wichtig.
– Time frame is emphasized; “during that long loneliness in lockdown” is the topic.
Kleine Mitteilungen per Handy waren während der langen Einsamkeit im Lockdown sehr wichtig.
– The messages themselves are emphasized first; then we add when they were important.

German allows fairly flexible word order, especially among adverbials (time, place, manner). Changing the order usually affects emphasis / focus, not basic grammar.