Learn Hardcore German: Im Winter friere ich schnell, wenn ich keinen Pullover trage. - In winter I get cold quickly when I don’t wear a sweater.

in dem Winter = im Winter
In spoken and written German, these contractions (like im, am, vom, zum) are far more common and sound more natural.

Also, when you talk about something that happens generally in winter (every winter), you normally use:

im Winter (with the dative and the contraction)
rather than a bare in Winter.

So im Winter here means “in (the) winter” in a general, habitual sense, not in one specific winter. If you wanted to single out a particular winter, you could say:

In dem Winter 2020 habe ich oft gefroren. – “In that winter of 2020 I was often cold.”

What case is Winter in, and why?

Winter is in the dative case here.

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative.
With time expressions like seasons and months, in is used with the dative:
- im Winter, im Sommer, im Januar.

Formally:

in
- dem Winter (dative masculine singular)
  → contracted to im Winter.

So: Winter is dative because in with a time expression (here: a season) uses the dative to mean “in (that period of time)”.

Why does the sentence start with Im Winter instead of Ich?

German word order is very flexible with what comes first, as long as the finite verb is in second position in a main clause (the V2 rule).

All these are correct and natural:

Im Winter friere ich schnell.
Ich friere im Winter schnell.

By starting with Im Winter, the speaker emphasizes the time frame. The structure is:

First position: Im Winter (a time expression)
Second position: friere (the conjugated verb)
Then: ich schnell (subject + adverb)

So the choice is mostly about emphasis and style, not grammar correctness. Both orders are fine.

Why is it keinen Pullover and not kein Pullover?

Because Pullover is masculine, and it’s the direct object of the verb tragen, which requires the accusative case.

The negation kein declines like the indefinite article ein:

Nominative masculine: ein Pullover / kein Pullover
Accusative masculine: einen Pullover / keinen Pullover

In the sentence:

(ich) trage keinen Pullover
- trage → needs an accusative object
- Pullover → masculine, accusative
- kein in masculine accusative → keinen

So keinen Pullover is the correct accusative form: “no sweater / not a sweater”.

Why is trage at the end of the clause wenn ich keinen Pullover trage?

Because wenn introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause.

Structure:

Main clause: Im Winter friere ich schnell
- finite verb friere in second position
Subordinate clause with wenn: wenn ich keinen Pullover trage
- subject: ich
- object: keinen Pullover
- finite verb at the end: trage

This verb-final word order is a hallmark of German subordinate clauses with conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl, etc.

Why is there a comma before wenn?

German always places a comma before a subordinate clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl, etc.

Here:

Main clause: Im Winter friere ich schnell
Subordinate clause: wenn ich keinen Pullover trage

These two clauses must be separated by a comma:

Im Winter friere ich schnell, wenn ich keinen Pullover trage.

This is not optional in standard written German; it’s a fixed punctuation rule.

Why is wenn used here, and not als or wann?

Wenn, als, and wann all relate to “when” in English, but they are used differently:

wenn
- For repeated, habitual events in the past, present, or future.
- Also used in a conditional sense (“if/whenever”).
- Example: Wenn ich keinen Pullover trage, friere ich. – “When(ever)/If I don’t wear a sweater, I get cold.”
als
- For one-time events in the past.
- Example: Als ich klein war, habe ich immer gefroren. – “When I was little, I was always cold.” (one period in the past)
wann
- Used for questions (direct or indirect) about the time something happens.
- Example: Wann frierst du? – “When are you cold?”
  Ich weiß nicht, wann du frierst. – “I don’t know when you are cold.”

In this sentence, we’re talking about a general condition/habit (“When(ever) I don’t wear a sweater, I get cold”), so wenn is the correct choice.

What’s the difference between Ich friere and Mir ist kalt?

Both can express that you feel cold, but there is a nuance:

Ich friere.
- Literally: “I am freezing / I am getting cold.”
- Emphasizes the process or active sensation of freezing.
- Commonly used in casual speech to mean “I’m cold.”
Mir ist kalt.
- Literally: “To me it is cold.”
- Describes a state: you are in a cold condition.
- Very natural and common: Mir ist kalt ≈ “I feel cold.”

In many contexts, they are interchangeable, and both are idiomatic. Your sentence:

Im Winter friere ich schnell, wenn ich keinen Pullover trage.

focuses on how quickly you begin to feel cold (you start freezing quickly), so ich friere fits nicely.

What does schnell mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

schnell usually means “fast” or “quickly.”

In Im Winter friere ich schnell, it describes how you start to feel cold: “I get cold quickly / I start freezing quickly.”

Position-wise, German adverbs like schnell are flexible, but some options sound more natural:

Very natural:
- Im Winter friere ich schnell.
- Ich friere im Winter schnell.

Less natural or with different emphasis:

Ich friere schnell im Winter. (still possible, but emphasis can feel slightly odd)

Rule of thumb: time expressions (like im Winter) often come early, and manner adverbs (like schnell) often come after the verb and subject, as in the original sentence.

Are there other common words for Pullover, and are they all masculine?

Yes, there are several words for this type of clothing, and their genders differ:

der Pullover (masculine) – very common, works in most contexts.
der Pulli (masculine) – informal, short form of Pullover.
der Sweater (masculine) – exists, but less common; sounds a bit English-y.
der Rollkragenpullover (masculine) – specifically a turtleneck sweater.
die Strickjacke (feminine) – a cardigan (front opening with buttons/zip), not exactly the same item.

In your sentence, Pullover is standard and neutral. Since it is masculine, the accusative with kein is keinen Pullover.

Could I say …wenn ich keinen Pullover anhabe or …anziehe instead of trage?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

tragen – “to wear” (having it on your body)
- wenn ich keinen Pullover trage
  → when I am not wearing a sweater
anhaben – “to have on” (also means “to be wearing”)
- wenn ich keinen Pullover anhabe
  → when I don’t have a sweater on
  (very similar in meaning to tragen, a bit more informal/colloquial)
anziehen – “to put on” (the act of dressing)
- wenn ich keinen Pullover anziehe
  → when I don’t put on a sweater
  (focuses on the action of putting it on, not on the state of wearing it)

For your original meaning (“when I don’t wear a sweater”), tragen or anhaben are the best fits. anziehen would slightly shift the focus to the act of not putting it on.

Why do we repeat ich in wenn ich keinen Pullover trage? Could it be omitted?

In German, you cannot drop the subject pronoun the way you can in some other languages (like Spanish or Italian). Each finite clause needs its subject expressed, unless it’s impersonal (like es regnet).

So you need:

Im Winter friere ich schnell, wenn ich keinen Pullover trage.

You must repeat ich in the subordinate clause; something like:

✗ … wenn keinen Pullover trage.

is ungrammatical in standard German. The subject has to be stated explicitly in each clause.