Wenn ich starken Husten habe, bleibe ich zu Hause und trinke Tee.

When I have a bad cough, I stay at home and drink tea.

Breakdown of Wenn ich starken Husten habe, bleibe ich zu Hause und trinke Tee.

• und: and
• das Haus: the house
• trinken: to drink
• ich: I
• haben: to have
• bleiben: to stay
• wenn: when
• der Tee: the tea
• zu: at
• stark: strong
• der Husten: the cough

Questions & Answers about Wenn ich starken Husten habe, bleibe ich zu Hause und trinke Tee.

Why is the verb habe at the end of Wenn ich starken Husten habe?

In German, wenn introduces a subordinate clause. In subordinate clauses, the finite verb goes to the end of the clause.

Structure of the wenn-clause:

• wenn (subordinating conjunction)
• ich (subject)
• starken Husten (object)
• habe (finite verb at the end)

So:

• Wenn ich starken Husten habe
  literally: When I strong cough have

This verb-final rule applies to most subordinating conjunctions like weil, dass, obwohl, wenn, als etc.

Why is the word order bleibe ich and not ich bleibe after the comma?

After a subordinate clause, the following main clause still follows the verb-second (V2) rule of German.

Word order in the main clause:

• Something in first position (here: the entire wenn-clause counts as position 1)
• finite verb in position 2
• then the subject and everything else

So:

1. Wenn ich starken Husten habe, → this whole clause = position 1
2. bleibe → verb in position 2
3. ich → subject after the verb

That’s why we say:

• Wenn ich starken Husten habe, bleibe ich zu Hause.

If you start with the main clause, you get normal SVO order:

• Ich bleibe zu Hause, wenn ich starken Husten habe.

Can I also say Ich bleibe zu Hause und trinke Tee, wenn ich starken Husten habe? Is there any difference?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct, and very natural.

Two possible orders:

1. Wenn ich starken Husten habe, bleibe ich zu Hause und trinke Tee.
2. Ich bleibe zu Hause und trinke Tee, wenn ich starken Husten habe.

Both mean the same thing. The difference is only in emphasis:

• Starting with Wenn ich starken Husten habe emphasizes the condition.
• Starting with Ich bleibe zu Hause und trinke Tee emphasizes the action/behavior.

Why is it starken Husten and not starke Husten?

This is about case, gender, and adjective endings.

• Husten is a masculine noun: der Husten
• After the verb haben, the thing you “have” is usually in the accusative case.
• So we have ich habe (wen?/was?) starken Husten → accusative masculine.

The correct adjective ending for:

• masculine
• accusative
• with no article

is -en → starken.

So:

• starken Husten = strong cough (accusative, masculine, no article)

If you used an article, the ending would change:

• einen starken Husten (masc. acc. with einen)

Why is there no article? Why not einen starken Husten?

German can use Husten both:

• with an article: Ich habe einen starken Husten.
• without an article: Ich habe starken Husten.

Both are grammatically correct.

Nuance:

• einen starken Husten haben often sounds a bit more concrete and countable, like “a bad cough”.
• starken Husten haben can sound a bit more general or symptom-like, similar to saying “I have bad cough” / “I have a strong cough” without focusing on it as a specific “thing”.

In everyday speech, both versions are used. The article-less version is very common with illness symptoms (e.g. Fieber haben, Kopfschmerzen haben, Durchfall haben).

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

All four can relate to time or conditions, but they’re not interchangeable.

• wenn

  • For repeated or general situations in the past, present, or future.
  • Here: “Whenever / When(ever) I have a bad cough, I stay at home…”
  • Also used like English “if” in many conditional sentences.

• als

  • For single, completed events in the past:
    
    • Als ich krank war, blieb ich zu Hause. = When I was ill (on that particular occasion), I stayed at home.

• wann

  • For questions about time or indirect questions:
    
    • Wann kommst du? = When are you coming?
    • Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt. = I don’t know when he is coming.

• falls

  • Means “in case” / “if” (hypothetical condition):
    
    • Falls ich Husten bekomme, bleibe ich zu Hause. = In case I get a cough, I’ll stay at home.

In your sentence, we’re talking about a general rule or habit, so wenn is the right choice.

Why is it zu Hause and not nach Hause?

zu Hause and nach Hause express different ideas:

• zu Hause = at home (location, where you are)

  • Ich bleibe zu Hause. = I stay at home.
  • Ich bin zu Hause. = I am at home.

• nach Hause = (to) home (direction, where you are going)

  • Ich gehe nach Hause. = I’m going home.
  • Ich fahre nach Hause. = I’m driving home.

In the sentence, you are staying, not going anywhere, so it must be zu Hause.

Why is zu Hause two words, but I’ve also seen Zuhause?

There is a difference:

• zu Hause (two words)

  • Adverbial phrase meaning “at home”:
    
    • Ich bin zu Hause.
    • Ich bleibe zu Hause.

• das Zuhause (one word, capitalized as a noun)

  • A noun meaning “home (as a place, your home environment)”:
    
    • Mein Zuhause ist in Berlin. = My home is in Berlin.
    • Ich liebe mein Zuhause.

So in your sentence, you want the adverbial phrase zu Hause, not the noun.

Why is the present tense used (habe, bleibe, trinke) instead of something like a future tense?

German uses the present tense much more widely than English. It can express:

• current actions:
  Ich trinke Tee. = I am drinking tea / I drink tea.
• future actions with a time expression or context:
  Morgen bleibe ich zu Hause. = I’m staying home tomorrow.
• general truths or habits:
  Wenn ich starken Husten habe, bleibe ich zu Hause.
  = Whenever I have a bad cough, I stay home.

The sentence describes a habitual rule, so the simple present is ideal in both languages. German doesn’t need a special tense here.

Why can the subject ich be left out before trinke in bleibe ich zu Hause und trinke Tee?

In German, when you have the same subject for multiple verbs in a single clause, you don’t need to repeat it:

• Ich bleibe zu Hause und trinke Tee.
  not Ich bleibe zu Hause und ich trinke Tee. (which is possible but heavier)

The subject ich is understood to apply to both bleibe and trinke.

Grammatically:

• bleibe and trinke are two verbs coordinated by und.
• They share the same subject ich, which only needs to be stated once.

Could I say Wenn ich stark huste, bleibe ich zu Hause und trinke Tee instead of Wenn ich starken Husten habe? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say that, and it’s grammatically correct:

• Wenn ich starken Husten habe, …
  = When I have a bad cough, …
• Wenn ich stark huste, …
  = When I cough badly / cough a lot / cough strongly, …

The difference:

• starken Husten haben treats Husten as a noun (a condition/illness).
• stark husten uses husten as a verb (the action of coughing) and stark as an adverb.

Both are natural, but:

• starken Husten haben focuses on the state/illness.
• stark husten focuses more on the action/behavior (how you are coughing).

In everyday speech when talking about being sick, Husten haben is very common.