Breakdown of Meine Lehrerin gibt mir Nachhilfe, damit ich bei der Prüfung keine Panik mehr habe.
Questions & Answers about Meine Lehrerin gibt mir Nachhilfe, damit ich bei der Prüfung keine Panik mehr habe.
In German, geben (to give) normally takes:
- a dative object = the person who receives something
- an accusative object = the thing that is given
In the sentence:
- meine Lehrerin = subject (nominative) – the one who gives
- mir = indirect object (dative) – the person who receives
- Nachhilfe = direct object (accusative) – the thing being given
So:
Meine Lehrerin (Nom.) gibt mir (Dat.) Nachhilfe (Akk.).
Using mich would make it accusative, but mich is not the thing being given; Nachhilfe is. That’s why it must be mir.
Nachhilfe is often used like an abstract or mass noun, similar to English tutoring or extra help.
German frequently omits the article with such nouns when they are meant in a general, non-specific way:
- Ich nehme Nachhilfe. – I’m taking tutoring / extra lessons.
- Er braucht Ruhe. – He needs rest.
- Wir haben Unterricht. – We have class.
If you say die Nachhilfe, it usually sounds like a specific, already known tutoring arrangement:
- Die Nachhilfe bei Frau Meier ist sehr gut.
(That particular tutoring with Ms. Meier is very good.)
In this sentence, the idea is general tutoring, so no article is needed.
Nachhilfe means private tutoring or remedial lessons, usually to improve performance in school or for an exam.
Common uses:
- Nachhilfe in Mathe nehmen – to take tutoring in maths
- Nachhilfe geben – to give tutoring
- Ich brauche Nachhilfe in Deutsch. – I need tutoring in German.
It usually refers to extra lessons outside regular class, often one-on-one or in a small group.
Both damit and um … zu can express purpose (in order to), but:
- um … zu is used when the subject is the same in both parts of the sentence.
- damit is used when the subject changes.
Compare:
Ich lerne viel, um die Prüfung zu bestehen.
(I am learning a lot in order to pass the exam. – subject: ich in both parts)Meine Lehrerin gibt mir Nachhilfe, damit ich bei der Prüfung keine Panik mehr habe.
First clause: subject = meine Lehrerin
Second clause: subject = ich
Because the subject changes (Lehrerin → ich), you need damit, not um … zu.
Damit introduces a subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause.
So the pattern is:
- damit
- subject
- (other elements) + verb (conjugated) at the end
- subject
Here:
- damit – subordinator
- ich – subject
- bei der Prüfung – prepositional phrase
- keine Panik mehr – object/negation
- habe – conjugated verb at the end
Hence: … damit ich bei der Prüfung keine Panik mehr habe.
German often uses the present tense to talk about the future when it’s clear from context:
- Morgen habe ich eine Prüfung. – I have an exam tomorrow.
- Nächste Woche fahren wir nach Berlin. – Next week we’re going to Berlin.
In this sentence, it is understood that:
- The tutoring is happening now or regularly: gibt mir Nachhilfe
- The exam is a future situation, but we talk about it with present:
damit ich … keine Panik mehr habe – so that I no longer have panic (when the exam happens).
You could theoretically use Futur I (haben werde), but here it would sound unnecessary and a bit stiff. Present tense is natural.
The preposition changes the nuance:
bei
- event = at / during an event
- bei der Prüfung – during the exam / at the exam
- bei der Party – at the party
in
- location = in / inside something as a space
- in der Schule – in the school (inside the building)
- in der Tasche – in the bag
An exam is treated more as an event, not a physical container, so German uses bei der Prüfung to mean during the exam situation.
In der Prüfung is possible, but more literal and less common; it can sound like during the test itself in a very concrete way. Bei der Prüfung is the standard, natural choice for the emotional state you have while taking the exam.
There are two points here:
kein(e) vs nicht
- Use kein(e) to negate a noun:
- Ich habe keine Zeit. – I don’t have time.
- Ich habe keine Panik. – I don’t have panic.
- Use nicht to negate verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or the entire sentence:
- Ich habe nicht Angst, sondern Respekt.
- Ich bin nicht nervös.
Since Panik is a noun, you negate it with keine, not nicht.
- Use kein(e) to negate a noun:
mehr (anymore / no longer)
- keine Panik mehr haben = to no longer have panic / not have panic anymore
- Word order: keine (negation) + Panik (noun) + mehr (anymore)
So:
keine Panik mehr = no more panic / not any panic anymore.
It’s not wrong, but it’s less typical than bei der Prüfung.
- bei der Prüfung = at / during the exam (standard, idiomatic)
- in der Prüfung = inside the exam / in the exam (more concrete, less idiomatic for emotions)
If you use in der Prüfung, people will still understand you, but bei der Prüfung is what native speakers would normally say in this context.
Meine Lehrerin means my (female) teacher – it shows possession and also specifies the person more clearly.
- die Lehrerin = the teacher (some particular female teacher, but not necessarily yours)
- meine Lehrerin = my own teacher
In context, the sentence talks about your teacher giving you tutoring, so the possessive pronoun meine is natural.
Grammatically:
- meine is the feminine nominative form of mein, because Lehrerin is feminine and is the subject.
Both mean teacher, but:
- Lehrer = male teacher (or gender-neutral in some contexts)
- Lehrerin = female teacher
They follow the typical pattern where -in marks the feminine form:
- Student → Studentin
- Arzt → Ärztin
- Lehrer → Lehrerin
So:
- Mein Lehrer gibt mir Nachhilfe. – My (male) teacher is giving me tutoring.
- Meine Lehrerin gibt mir Nachhilfe. – My (female) teacher is giving me tutoring.
German often uses haben + noun where English might use a verb or adjective.
Some common patterns:
- Panik haben – to panic / to be panicked
- Angst haben – to be afraid
- Stress haben – to be stressed
- Hunger haben – to be hungry
- Durst haben – to be thirsty
So keine Panik mehr haben = literally to have no more panic, but it corresponds to to no longer panic or to not panic anymore.
Ich bin panisch is grammatically possible but sounds more like I am a panicky person (describing a character trait), not a temporary exam situation. For the exam context, Panik haben is the natural choice.
Yes, German allows relatively flexible word order in the main clause as long as the finite verb stays in the second position.
Original:
- Meine Lehrerin (1st element) gibt (2nd position verb) mir Nachhilfe.
You could say:
- Nachhilfe (1st element) gibt (2nd position) mir meine Lehrerin, damit ich …
- Mir (1st element) gibt (2nd position) meine Lehrerin Nachhilfe, damit ich …
All of these are grammatically correct. The differences are in emphasis:
- Starting with Nachhilfe emphasizes the tutoring.
- Starting with Mir emphasizes that it is me who receives it.
- The original version is the most neutral and natural in everyday speech.