Learn Hardcore German: Wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste, bleibe ich zu Hause im Bett. - When I have a bad cold and cough a lot, I stay at home in bed.

In German, subordinate clauses (Nebensätze) introduced by conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, etc. send the finite verb to the end of the clause.

So:

Main clause: Ich habe starken Schnupfen. – normal verb‑second.
Subordinate clause with wenn: Wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe … – verb goes to the end.

The same happens with huste:

Main: Ich huste viel.
Subordinate: wenn ich viel huste

Inside the wenn‑clause you see normal SOV order: ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste – both verbs habe and huste are at the very end of their parts of the clause.

Why is it wenn and not als or wann?

These three words are tricky for English speakers:

wenn = when / whenever in the sense of whenever a condition is fulfilled or repeated / general events. It also often works like if.
als = when referring to one specific event in the past.
wann = when? only in questions (direct or indirect).

In this sentence, we are talking about what the speaker generally does whenever they have a bad cold and cough a lot. That’s a repeated or conditional situation, so wenn is the correct choice.

Examples:

Wenn ich krank bin, bleibe ich zu Hause. – Whenever / if I’m ill, I stay home.
Als ich krank war, blieb ich zu Hause. – When I was ill (that one time in the past), I stayed home.
Wann bleibst du zu Hause? – When do you stay at home?

Why is it present tense (habe, huste, bleibe) even though the meaning is like “whenever I have … I stay …”?

German uses the present tense (Präsens) much more broadly than English. For:

current situations
future events (with context)
general truths or habits (like here)

The sentence describes a habit or general rule of the speaker. In German, we naturally use the simple present for this:

Wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste, bleibe ich zu Hause im Bett.

English often uses simple present too: When I have a bad cold and cough a lot, I stay in bed. So the tenses actually match here; just remember: German doesn’t need a special form like will stay or would stay for this sort of rule.

Why is it starken Schnupfen and not starker Schnupfen?

Schnupfen is masculine: der Schnupfen.

In the sentence, Schnupfen is the direct object of habe, so it is accusative:

(Ich) habe wen? / was? → starken Schnupfen → accusative object.

When there is no article (no ein or der), the adjective has to show the case, gender, and number. With a masculine noun in the accusative singular and no article, the adjective ending is ‑en:

Masculine nominative: starker Schnupfen (as a subject)
Masculine accusative: starken Schnupfen (as an object)

Compare:

Der starke Schnupfen nervt mich. – Nominative, with article → starke
Ich habe einen starken Schnupfen. – Accusative, with ein → starken
Ich habe starken Schnupfen. – Accusative, no article → starken

Can I also say „einen starken Schnupfen“ instead of just „starken Schnupfen“?

Yes, both are correct:

Ich habe starken Schnupfen.
Ich habe einen starken Schnupfen.

The meaning is almost the same. With einen, it can feel a little bit more like “a strong cold” as a countable thing, while starken Schnupfen feels slightly more like a condition or symptom, but in everyday speech the difference is minimal. Both are very natural.

Grammar-wise:

With einen (masc. accusative), the article already shows case/gender, but the adjective still gets ‑en: einen starken Schnupfen.
Without an article, the adjective must carry that information on its own, so it is also starken Schnupfen.

Why is it viel huste here, but normally ich huste viel in a main clause?

In a normal main clause with verb in second position, you say:

Ich huste viel. – I cough a lot.

Word order: Subject (ich) – Verb (huste) – Adverb (viel).

In a subordinate clause introduced by wenn, the finite verb goes to the end. Everything else must come before it:

wenn ich viel huste

So you still have the same logical order (ich – viel – huste), but because the verb is forced to the end, it looks different compared to the main clause. You would not say ich viel huste as a main clause; that word order is only possible because this is a verb‑final subordinate clause.

Why is it zu Hause here and not nach Hause?

German distinguishes clearly between:

Location (where?) → zu Hause
Direction (to where?) → nach Hause

In this sentence, the person is staying at home (no movement to a new place), so we talk about a location:

Ich bleibe zu Hause (im Bett). – I stay (at) home (in bed).

If you describe going home, you use nach Hause:

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

So:

bleiben → zu Hause
sein (location) → zu Hause
gehen / fahren / kommen (movement to home) → nach Hause

Why is it im Bett and not ins Bett?

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative, depending on whether you express:

location (where?) → dative
direction / movement into (where to?) → accusative

In the sentence, the person stays in bed – this is about a location, not movement:

bleibe ich zu Hause im Bett.
→ in dem Bett = im Bett (dative singular)

If you describe movement into the bed, you would use ins Bett:

Ich gehe ins Bett. – I’m going to bed.
→ in das Bett = ins Bett (accusative singular)

So:

im Bett sein / bleiben – to be / stay in bed (dative)
ins Bett gehen / legen – to go / lie down in(to) bed (accusative)

Why is there a comma before bleibe?

German requires a comma between a subordinate clause and the main clause:

Wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste,
bleibe ich zu Hause im Bett.

The part starting with wenn and ending with huste is a subordinate clause. Bleibe ich zu Hause im Bett is the main clause. The comma marks the boundary between them.

Inside the subordinate clause, you also have a coordinating und (“habe und viel huste”), but that does not require a comma in this case because it is just joining two verbs within the same clause.

Why is it bleibe ich and not ich bleibe after the comma?

German main clauses must follow the verb‑second (V2) rule: the finite verb must be in second position.

When you start the sentence with the wenn‑clause, that entire clause counts as one big element in the first position. After that, the verb must follow:

First position: Wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste
Second position: bleibe (finite verb)
Then: ich zu Hause im Bett (rest of the clause)

So:

Wenn …, bleibe ich zu Hause. – correct
Wenn …, ich bleibe zu Hause. – incorrect word order (verb is not in second position)

If you start with the subject instead, you get the “normal” order:

Ich bleibe zu Hause im Bett, wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste.

Can I also put the wenn‑clause after the main clause?

Yes, that is perfectly correct and common. Then you get a more “English-like” order:

Ich bleibe zu Hause im Bett, wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste.

The meaning doesn’t change. In both orders, the comma is still required, and the verbs in the wenn‑clause stay at the end:

Main first: Ich bleibe zu Hause im Bett, wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste.
Subordinate first: Wenn ich starken Schnupfen habe und viel huste, bleibe ich zu Hause im Bett.

The choice is mostly about emphasis and style.

Why is Hause capitalized in zu Hause, and is zuhause also possible?

In zu Hause, Hause is historically a noun (from das Haus), and all nouns are capitalized in German, so Hause is capitalized.

Modern usage:

As an adverb meaning “at home”, the recommended spelling is zu Hause (two words).
You will also see zuhause written as one word, especially informally. Current orthography usually treats zu Hause as the standard, but zuhause is also widely accepted in many contexts.

You might also see das Zuhause (noun) meaning “the home” as an abstract place; that is definitely written as one capitalized word:

Mein Zuhause ist mir wichtig. – My home is important to me.