Breakdown of Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung, wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist.
Questions & Answers about Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung, wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist.
German distinguishes between:
- mich = accusative (direct object)
- mir = dative (indirect object)
The verb schicken can take two objects:
- jemandem (dative) etwas (accusative) schicken
– send something to someone
In the sentence:
- mir = the person receiving the message → indirect object → dative
- eine Mitteilung = the thing being sent → direct object → accusative
So it must be schickt mir eine Mitteilung, not schickt mich eine Mitteilung (which would mean “sends me a notification,” with me as the thing being sent).
wenn introduces a subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb (the conjugated verb) goes to the end of the clause.
Word order:
- Main clause: Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung → verb in 2nd position (schickt)
- Subordinate clause: wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist → verb at the end (ist)
Pattern:
- … wenn + [subject] + [rest] + verb (at the end)
So: wenn → triggers subordinate word order → ist goes to the end.
In German, all subordinate clauses are separated from the main clause by a comma.
- Main clause: Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung
- Subordinate clause: wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist
Result: Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung, wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist.
Even if the sentence is short and clear, the comma is still mandatory in standard written German.
All three can deal with time or conditions, but they’re used differently:
wenn
- “whenever” / “when(ever)” in a general, repeated, or future sense
- also “if” in conditional sentences
- fits recurring events: every time a new statement is available
als
- used for single events in the past
- e.g. Als ich jung war, hatte ich kein Konto.
- Not correct here, because this is about something that happens repeatedly/whenever.
falls
- more like “in case” / “if perhaps”
- expresses a possibility, not a regular rule
- Falls ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist… = In case a new statement is available… (slightly different nuance: contingency, not routine)
Here, the sentence describes a regular rule or automatic process, so wenn is the natural choice.
Case:
- In the subordinate clause wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist, the phrase ein neuer Kontoauszug is the subject of the verb ist.
- Subjects are in the nominative case.
Masculine nominative singular with ein:
- ein neuer Kontoauszug (masc. nom. sg.)
If it were an object (accusative masculine), you’d see:
- einen neuen Kontoauszug
Example:
- Ich bekomme einen neuen Kontoauszug. (accusative object)
- Ein neuer Kontoauszug ist verfügbar. (nominative subject)
So in this sentence, ein neuer Kontoauszug is correct because it’s the subject of ist.
Adjective endings depend on:
- Gender and number
- Case (nominative, accusative, etc.)
- The article type (definite, indefinite, none)
Here:
- Kontoauszug is masculine.
- It’s the subject of the subordinate clause → nominative.
- It has an indefinite article (ein).
Adjective declension after ein (masculine singular):
- Nominative: ein neuer Kontoauszug
- Accusative: einen neuen Kontoauszug
- Dative: einem neuen Kontoauszug
- Genitive: eines neuen Kontoauszugs
We have nominative masculine singular → neuer.
Kontoauszug is a compound noun:
- das Konto = account (bank account)
- der Auszug = excerpt, extract, statement
Combined: der Kontoauszug
Literally: “account extract” → bank statement.
Grammar notes:
- Gender: der Kontoauszug (masculine)
- Plural: die Kontoauszüge
- umlaut on a → ä
- add -e
In German, Bank (meaning financial institution) is always feminine:
- die Bank (singular)
- die Banken (plural) – banks
Fun detail: die Bank can also mean bench (the thing you sit on), and that meaning is also feminine. The meaning is determined by context.
There is no das Bank in standard German for this noun; Bank is consistently die.
Mitteilung is a countable noun meaning roughly “(formal) message/notification/communication.”
Countable, singular nouns in German normally need an article:
- eine Mitteilung = a notification / one notification
- die Mitteilung = the notification
Saying Die Bank schickt mir Mitteilung without an article sounds wrong in standard German.
You could make it plural, though:
- Die Bank schickt mir Mitteilungen. = The bank sends me (some) notifications.
(Here, no article is possible because it’s a bare plural.)
All three can be translated as “message/notification,” but there are nuances:
Mitteilung
- Rather formal/official
- Common in letters, emails, and official communication from companies, authorities, banks.
- Fits well in: Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung.
Nachricht
- General “message” (also “news”)
- Used for personal messages, texts, WhatsApp, etc.
- Die Bank schickt mir eine Nachricht is possible, but sounds a bit less formal / more everyday.
Benachrichtigung
- Very close to “notification” (as in app or email alerts)
- Technical or system-like context
- Die Bank schickt mir eine Benachrichtigung, wenn… sounds like an app or online banking push/email notification.
So Mitteilung is a good neutral/formal choice for a bank.
German often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially with time or condition clauses introduced by words like wenn, falls, sobald, wenn etc.
- wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist
= literally “when a new bank statement is available”
= functionally “when a new bank statement becomes available / is available in future”
Using sein wird is grammatically possible:
- wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar sein wird
but in everyday German this sounds heavy and unnecessarily formal. Present tense is completely normal and preferred here.
Yes. You can swap the order:
Original:
- Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung, wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist.
Alternative:
- Wenn ein neuer Kontoauszug verfügbar ist, schickt mir die Bank eine Mitteilung.
Note:
- The wenn-clause still keeps the verb at the end (… verfügbar ist).
- When the subordinate clause comes first, the main clause that follows still has the verb in second position:
- … , schickt mir die Bank eine Mitteilung.
So both versions are correct; it’s just a matter of emphasis and style.
You can, but it’s not the most natural choice here.
Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung.
- Very idiomatic.
- Uses mir as a dative pronoun (indirect object).
Die Bank schickt eine Mitteilung an mich.
- Grammatically correct.
- Feels more heavy and explicit, as if stressing to me in particular.
- The prepositional phrase an mich is usually only used when you really want to emphasize who the recipient is, or in contrast to someone else.
In everyday German, for normal sending/receiving, you almost always use the dative pronoun: mir, dir, ihm, etc.
Yes, German word order is relatively flexible, but there are preferences.
Most natural:
- Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung. → subject – verb – dative – accusative
Also possible, but less neutral in tone:
- Die Bank schickt eine Mitteilung mir.
- Grammatically okay, but sounds odd or emphasized; native speakers rarely say this.
- Mir schickt die Bank eine Mitteilung.
- Puts emphasis on mir (“Me, the bank sends a notification (not someone else)”).
The standard, unemphasized word order is subject – verb – (dative pronoun) – (accusative noun):
Die Bank schickt mir eine Mitteilung.
In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of their position in the sentence.
- Die Bank
- eine Mitteilung
- ein neuer Kontoauszug
Adjectives (neuer, verfügbar) and verbs (schickt, ist) are not capitalized (unless they start a sentence or are part of a title).
Capitalizing nouns is a core rule in German spelling and helps visually identify them in a sentence.