Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung.

The train is delayed again.

Breakdown of Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung.

• haben: to have
• der Zug: the train
• die Verspätung: the delay
• schon wieder: yet again

Questions & Answers about Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung.

Why does the sentence use hat (has) instead of ist (is), when in English we say “The train is late again”?

In German, there are two common ways to say a train is late:

• Der Zug hat Verspätung. – literally “The train has delay.”
• Der Zug ist zu spät. – literally “The train is too late.”

Both are correct and mean almost the same in everyday use.

Hat Verspätung sounds a bit more neutral and is the standard, slightly more formal/official phrasing (you’ll see it on train announcements and signs).
Ist zu spät feels more like normal spoken language and focuses on the state of being late.

So the German sentence is structured differently from English, but the meaning is the same as “The train is late again.”

What exactly does schon wieder mean, and how is it different from just wieder or just schon?

• wieder = again
• schon on its own often means already, but it can also add emphasis or emotional flavor.

Together, schon wieder is more than just again. It usually expresses annoyance, frustration, or surprise that something is happening yet again.

Nuance in English:

• wieder ≈ again
• schon wieder ≈ again already, yet again, once again (sigh)

So Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung suggests the speaker is at least a bit irritated:
“The train is late yet again.”

Is Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung talking about the present or the past?

It is present tense.

• hat is the present tense of haben (to have).
• The structure hat Verspätung means “has a delay / is delayed (now)”.

Learners sometimes confuse hat with the auxiliary used in the Perfekt (present perfect), but here there is no past participle (like gehabt, gekommen, gemacht). So it is simple present, describing the current situation: the train is late (again) right now.

Could I also say Der Zug ist schon wieder zu spät? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung.
• Der Zug ist schon wieder zu spät.

Both are natural and mean almost the same.

Subtle differences:

• hat … Verspätung

  • Slightly more formal/neutral.
  • Often used in official contexts (announcements, written notices).

• ist zu spät

  • Very common in everyday spoken German.
  • Feels a bit more colloquial and closer to English “is late.”

In most everyday situations, you can use either without worrying. The main nuance is style rather than meaning.

Why is Verspätung a noun (a thing) and not an adjective like spät (“late”)?

German often uses nouns for concepts where English prefers an adjective:

• Der Zug hat Verspätung. – literally “The train has delay.”
• English: “The train is late.” (adjective late)

Here Verspätung is a noun meaning delay. You can treat it just like other nouns:

• eine Verspätung – a delay
• keine Verspätung – no delay
• wegen der Verspätung – because of the delay

German also has the adjective spät (late):

• Der Zug ist spät / zu spät. – The train is late / too late.

So German gives you two patterns:

• haben + Verspätung (have delay)
• sein + spät/zu spät (be late/too late)

Why is it Der Zug and not Das Zug or Die Zug?

In German, every noun has a grammatical gender:

• der – masculine
• die – feminine
• das – neuter

Zug (train) is masculine, so you must use der:

• der Zug – the train

Other travel-related examples with different genders:

• die Bahn – the railway
• die S-Bahn – the suburban train
• die U-Bahn – the subway/metro
• das Auto – the car
• der Bus – the bus

Unfortunately, gender is mostly arbitrary and must be learned together with the noun: always memorize der Zug, not just Zug.

Why is Verspätung capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.

Verspätung is a noun (it names a thing: a delay), so it must always be written with a capital V:

• Verspätung – delay
• Die Verspätung ist groß. – The delay is big.
• wegen der Verspätung – because of the delay

Capitalization does not depend on importance or stress; it is purely about word type. Adjectives and verbs (like spät, kommen) are normally not capitalized.

Where does schon wieder go in the sentence? Could I move it somewhere else?

In a normal main clause, the conjugated verb must be in second position:

• Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung.
  
  • Der Zug = first element
  • hat = second (the verb)
  • schon wieder Verspätung = rest of the sentence

You can move schon wieder a bit, but you must keep hat in second position:

• Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung. – neutral, very natural
• Schon wieder hat der Zug Verspätung. – emphasizes the “yet again”, often more emotional/annoyed.

You can’t move hat out of second position in a simple main clause:

• ❌ Der Zug schon wieder hat Verspätung. – incorrect

How do I pronounce Zug and Verspätung, especially the Z and the ä?

Zug

• Z in German is pronounced like ts in cats.
• u is a long oo sound as in food (but with rounded lips).
• Final g here is a hard g as in go.

So Zug ≈ tsoog (one syllable).

Verspätung

• Ver-: the V is pronounced like English f, and er like air (but shorter): fair (short).
• -spä-: sp at the start of a syllable sounds like shp; ä like e in bed, but longer.
• -tung: u like oo in book, ng as in sing.

Roughly: fair-SHPEH-toong (3 syllables: Ver–spä–tung).

Does schon here really mean “already”?

Literally, schon often means already, but in combinations like schon wieder the meaning is idiomatic.

• schon = already
• wieder = again
• schon wieder ≈ yet again / again already, expressing irritation or surprise.

So in Der Zug hat schon wieder Verspätung, you don’t normally translate schon as a separate word. You treat schon wieder as a fixed expression meaning something like:

• “(is) late yet again”
• “(is) late again, already” (with annoyance)

How would I say “The trains are always late” using Verspätung?

You can use haben + Verspätung in the plural:

• Die Züge haben immer Verspätung.

Breakdown:

• Die Züge – the trains (plural of der Zug)
• haben – plural of hat
• immer – always
• Verspätung – delay

This corresponds to English “The trains are always late.”, but literally it’s “The trains always have delay.”