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Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.

Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.
I no longer find math hard thanks to the tutoring.

Breakdown of Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.

ich
I
finden
to find
schwer
hard
dank
thanks to
nicht mehr
no longer
die Nachhilfe
the tutoring
Mathe
math
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Questions & Answers about Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.

What does finde mean here? I thought finden was “to find”.

In German, finden has two common meanings:

  1. to physically find something:

    • Ich finde meinen Schlüssel nicht. – I can’t find my key.

  2. to think / to consider (to have an opinion):

    • Ich finde den Film gut. – I think the movie is good / I find the movie good.

In Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer, it’s the second meaning:
“I consider math (to be) not difficult anymore.”

Why is Mathe capitalized, and what exactly is it?

Mathe is short for Mathematik and means math / mathematics.

  • It is a noun, and in German all nouns are capitalized, so Mathe must be written with a capital M.
  • It’s feminine (like die Mathematik), and it is very common and natural in everyday speech, especially for the school subject.

So:

  • Mathe = Mathematik = math (as a school subject or field).
Why is there no article before Mathe?

School subjects and fields of study in German are usually used without an article when you speak about them in a general sense:

  • Ich mag Mathe. – I like math.
  • Englisch ist leicht. – English is easy.
  • Er studiert Physik. – He studies physics.

Using an article (die Mathe) would sound wrong or at least very odd in this context. So Ich finde Mathe … without any article is the normal form.

What case is Mathe in, and how can I tell?

Mathe is the direct object of finden, so it is in the accusative case.

  • Subject: Ich (nominative)
  • Verb: finde
  • Direct object: Mathe (accusative)

You can’t see the case from the form of Mathe itself (feminine nouns often look the same in nominative and accusative when there is no article), but you know it’s accusative because it’s what is being “found/considered.”

Grammatically, what is schwer doing in this sentence?

Schwer is an adjective that functions as a predicative complement (a description of the object):

  • Ich finde Mathe schwer.
    – Literally: I find math difficult.

Structure:

  • Ich – subject
  • finde – verb
  • Mathe – direct object
  • schwer – adjective describing Mathe

In this use (after verbs like finden, sein, werden, bleiben, etc.), the adjective does not get an ending:

  • Ich finde Mathe schwer. (not: schwere)
  • Mathe ist schwer.
What does dank der Nachhilfe mean grammatically? What case is der Nachhilfe?

Dank is a preposition that usually means “thanks to / due to (in a positive sense)”.

Traditionally, dank takes the genitive case, but in modern everyday German the dative is also very common. In this sentence:

  • Nachhilfe is feminine (die Nachhilfe).
  • der Nachhilfe can be:
    • genitive singular (fem.)
    • or dative singular (fem.)

So dank der Nachhilfe can be understood as either genitive or dative, and both are considered acceptable nowadays in standard German. The meaning remains:

  • dank der Nachhilfe – thanks to the tutoring.
What exactly does Nachhilfe mean?

Nachhilfe (feminine noun: die Nachhilfe) means tutoring / extra help with schoolwork, often outside regular class:

  • private lessons
  • extra help from a tutor
  • sometimes help from older students or teachers after school

In this sentence, dank der Nachhilfe means the speaker is finding math easier because they have been getting tutoring.

Can dank der Nachhilfe go somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes. In German, adverbial/prepositional phrases like dank der Nachhilfe are quite flexible in position. All of these are possible and natural:

  • Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.
  • Ich finde dank der Nachhilfe Mathe nicht mehr schwer.
  • Dank der Nachhilfe finde ich Mathe nicht mehr schwer.

The meaning is practically the same; you just change the emphasis slightly. The verb finde still has to stay in second position in the main clause.

What does nicht mehr mean here?

Nicht mehr together means “no longer / not anymore”.

  • Ich finde Mathe schwer. – I find math difficult.
  • Ich finde Mathe nicht schwer. – I don’t find math difficult.
  • Ich finde Mathe nicht mehr schwer. – I no longer find math difficult / I don’t find math difficult anymore.

So nicht mehr expresses that something used to be true, but isn’t true now.

Why is nicht mehr placed before schwer? Can I move it?

In Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer, the word order is:

  • nicht mehr (negation: “no longer”)
  • schwer (adjective it’s negating)

This is the standard pattern: nicht (mehr) + adjective at the end of the clause.

Natural:

  • Ich finde Mathe nicht mehr schwer.

Unnatural or wrong:

  • Ich finde Mathe schwer nicht mehr. (very odd)
  • Ich finde Mathe nicht schwer mehr. (also sounds wrong)

You can move nicht mehr earlier if you want to negate a different part, but then the meaning changes. For example:

  • Ich finde Mathe nicht mehr dank der Nachhilfe schwer.
    sounds like you’re saying “I no longer find math difficult because of the tutoring” – which is odd.

So for the intended meaning (math used to be hard, but isn’t anymore), nicht mehr belongs right before schwer.

What is the difference between schwer and schwierig?

Both schwer and schwierig can mean “difficult / hard.” In many contexts they are interchangeable:

  • Die Aufgabe ist schwer.
  • Die Aufgabe ist schwierig.

Both: The task is difficult.

Subtle differences:

  • schwer literally also means “heavy” (physically heavy).
  • schwierig is only “difficult / problematic.”

For school subjects and tasks, schwer is extremely common in everyday speech. Ich finde Mathe schwer or nicht mehr schwer is completely natural, and using schwierig instead would also be fine:

  • Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwierig.
Could I say wegen der Nachhilfe instead of dank der Nachhilfe?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

  • Ich finde Mathe wegen der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.

But there is a nuance:

  • dank = thanks to (usually positive cause)
  • wegen = because of / due to (more neutral, can be positive or negative)

In this context, dank der Nachhilfe is a bit more natural, because the tutoring is clearly something positive that helps you. Wegen der Nachhilfe is understandable, just less idiomatic for expressing gratitude/benefit.

Why is the verb finde in second position?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the conjugated verb must be in second position in the sentence (not necessarily the second word, but the second element).

In Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer:

  1. Ich – first element
  2. finde – second element → verb in second position
  3. Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer – rest of the clause

If you move something else to the start, the verb still stays second:

  • Dank der Nachhilfe finde ich Mathe nicht mehr schwer.
  • Mathe finde ich dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.

In all of those, finde remains in second position, as required.

Could I also say Ich finde, Mathe ist dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer?

You can say that, but it sounds a bit clumsy. More natural would be:

  • Ich finde, dass Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer ist.

Here you have:

  • Main clause: Ich finde, dass … – I think that …
  • Subordinate clause: … Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer ist.

However, German often prefers the shorter structure you saw originally:

  • Ich finde Mathe dank der Nachhilfe nicht mehr schwer.

This is more concise and very idiomatic.