Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt, wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.

Our teacher conveys patience and respect when she resolves an argument in the class.

Breakdown of Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt, wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.

• und: and
• in: in
• unser: our
• sie: she
• wenn: when
• die Geduld: the patience
• die Lehrerin: the teacher (female)
• der Streit: the argument
• der Respekt: the respect
• vermitteln: to convey
• die Klasse: the class
• klären: to resolve

Questions & Answers about Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt, wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.

Why is it unsere Lehrerin and not unser Lehrerin?

The form of unser changes depending on gender, number, and case, just like the definite article der/die/das.

• Lehrerin is:
  • feminine
  • singular
  • in the nominative case (it is the subject of the sentence)

For feminine nominative singular, unser becomes unsere, in the same way that die Lehrerin (not der Lehrer) is feminine.

Some examples:

• unser Lehrer (our [male] teacher) – masculine nominative
• unsere Lehrerin (our [female] teacher) – feminine nominative
• unsere Lehrer (our teachers) – plural nominative

So unsere Lehrerin is the correct form here.

What is the difference between Lehrer and Lehrerin?

Both mean teacher, but they differ in grammatical gender:

• Lehrer: male teacher (masculine noun)
• Lehrerin: female teacher (feminine noun)

The ending -in is a common way to make a specifically feminine noun from a masculine job title or role:

• Arzt → Ärztin (doctor)
• Student → Studentin (student)
• Freund → Freundin (friend, female)

In many contexts, Lehrer can also be used generically (teacher, without specifying gender), but Lehrerin clearly indicates that the teacher is female.

What exactly does vermitteln mean here, and why not just say lehren or beibringen?

Vermitteln has a slightly different nuance from lehren or beibringen.

• lehren: to teach (more formal, often used for teaching knowledge or subjects)
• beibringen: to teach (more informal/practical, to show someone how to do something)
• vermitteln: to convey, impart, communicate (values, attitudes, knowledge, skills)

In this sentence, vermitteln Geduld und Respekt suggests that the teacher is instilling or conveying the values of patience and respect, not just teaching them as an abstract topic.

So:

• Sie lehrt Grammatik. – She teaches grammar. (a subject)
• Sie bringt den Kindern Lesen bei. – She teaches the children how to read. (a skill)
• Sie vermittelt Geduld und Respekt. – She conveys/instills patience and respect. (values/attitudes)

Why do Geduld and Respekt have no article (no die or den)?

Abstract, uncountable nouns often appear without an article in German when you mean them in a general sense:

• Geduld – patience (in general, the concept)
• Respekt – respect (in general)

Compare:

• Sie vermittelt Geduld und Respekt.
  She conveys patience and respect (as general values).

• Sie zeigt den Respekt, den wir verdienen.
  She shows the respect that we deserve. (a specific respect already known in the context)

So here we are talking about the general qualities of patience and respect, so no article is used.

Why is it einen Streit and not ein Streit?

Streit is a masculine noun: der Streit.

In the sentence, einen Streit is the direct object of klärt (she resolves a dispute), so it must be in the accusative case.

Masculine forms of ein:

• Nominative: ein Streit (subject)
• Accusative: einen Streit (direct object)

Since the teacher is resolving the dispute (the dispute is not doing the action, it is receiving the action), Streit is accusative, so we use einen.

Why is it in der Klasse and not in die Klasse?

This is about the two-way preposition in, which can take either dative or accusative:

• Dative: location (where?)
• Accusative: direction/movement (where to?)

In this sentence, we are talking about where the dispute happens:

• in der Klasse – in the class / in the classroom (static location → dative)

If you were talking about moving into the classroom, you would use accusative:

• Sie geht in die Klasse. – She goes into the classroom. (movement → accusative)

So here in der Klasse is correct because it answers where the dispute is being resolved, not where to.

Why does klärt go at the end of the part with wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt?

Wenn introduces a subordinate clause. In German, in subordinate clauses:

• The finite verb (the conjugated verb) goes to the end of the clause.

So:

• Main clause word order (verb in 2nd position):
  Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt.

• Subordinate clause with wenn:
  wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt
  → klärt must go at the end.

Full structure:

• Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt, wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.

Main clause: verb in 2nd position (vermittelt)
Subordinate clause: verb at the end (klärt)

What is the difference between wenn, als, and wann here? Why is wenn used?

All three can be translated as when in English, but they are used differently:

• wenn:

  • for repeated events in the past, present, or future
  • often means whenever or if
    Example: Wenn sie einen Streit klärt, vermittelt sie Geduld und Respekt.
    → Whenever she settles a dispute, she conveys patience and respect.

• als:

  • for a single, completed event in the past
    Example: Als sie gestern den Streit klärte, vermittelte sie Geduld und Respekt.
    → When she settled the dispute yesterday, she conveyed patience and respect.

• wann:

  • for questions about time (direct or indirect)
    Example: Wann klärt sie den Streit? – When does she settle the dispute?

In your sentence, the meaning is more like whenever she settles a dispute in class, so wenn is the correct choice.

Does sie here mean she, they, or formal you?

In this sentence, sie is she (third person singular feminine).

Reasons:

1. It refers back to unsere Lehrerin, which is singular and feminine.
2. It is written with a lowercase s (sie, not Sie), so it cannot be the formal you.
3. From context, we are clearly talking about the same teacher as the subject of the main clause.

So the structure is:

• Unsere Lehrerin (subject, she)
• … wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt. (when she settles a dispute…)

Both refer to the same person, the teacher.

Why is it einen Streit klären? Could you also say einen Streit lösen or einen Streit schlichten?

All of these are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

• einen Streit klären
  literally: to clarify a dispute
  – focus on explaining, clearing up misunderstandings, making things clear

• einen Streit lösen
  literally: to solve a dispute
  – focus on finding a solution, ending the problem

• einen Streit schlichten
  literally: to mediate/settle a dispute
  – focus on calming the sides and bringing peace as a kind of mediator

In a classroom context, einen Streit klären suggests that the teacher is:

• talking things through,
• clearing up what happened,
• helping the students understand each other,

and at the same time imparting values like patience and respect.

Why is the whole sentence in the present tense? Could it also refer to habitual actions like whenever she does this?

Yes. In German, the present tense (vermittelt, klärt) can express:

• actions happening now
• regular or habitual actions
• near-future events (with context)

In this sentence, the most natural reading is habitual:

• Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt, wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.
  → Our teacher conveys patience and respect whenever she settles a dispute in class.

So even though it is grammatically present tense, the meaning is like whenever she does this / every time she does this.

Can the order of the clauses be reversed, and does that change the word order?

Yes, you can put the wenn-clause first. The meaning stays the same, but the main clause word order changes slightly:

1. Original:

   • Unsere Lehrerin vermittelt Geduld und Respekt, wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.

2. Reversed:

   • Wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt, vermittelt unsere Lehrerin Geduld und Respekt.

Notice:

• The subordinate clause still has the verb at the end: … wenn sie einen Streit in der Klasse klärt.
• After the comma, because a whole clause came first, the finite verb of the main clause (vermittelt) must come immediately after the comma, followed by the subject (unsere Lehrerin).

This keeps the main-clause rule: verb in second position.