Learn Hardcore German: Nach der Nachhilfe war die Panik viel kleiner, und die Aufgabe war plötzlich verständlich. - After the tutoring the panic was much smaller, and the exercise was suddenly understandable.

Nach der Nachhilfe
- nach → preposition
- der Nachhilfe → dative singular, feminine (article der is the dative form for feminine nouns)

You could see “Nachhilfe” without an article in general statements like:

Ich gebe Nachhilfe. – I tutor / I give tutoring.
Ich habe Nachhilfe. – I have tutoring.

But here we are talking about a specific session of tutoring that just happened, so German normally uses the article:

Nach der Nachhilfe = After the tutoring (session/lesson).

Is “der” in “der Nachhilfe” nominative or dative?

It’s dative feminine singular.

For the feminine noun die Nachhilfe, the forms are:

Nominative: die Nachhilfe
Accusative: die Nachhilfe
Dative: der Nachhilfe
Genitive: der Nachhilfe

Since “nach” always takes the dative, “der Nachhilfe” must be dative, even though dative and genitive feminine both look like der.

Why does the verb come right after “Nach der Nachhilfe”: “Nach der Nachhilfe war die Panik …”?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb is always in second position.

Here the first “position” is the whole time phrase “Nach der Nachhilfe” (even though it has three words, it counts as one sentence element). So the verb must come next:

Nach der Nachhilfe – element 1
war – verb (must be in 2nd position)
die Panik viel kleiner, … – rest of the clause

You could also say:

Die Panik war nach der Nachhilfe viel kleiner.

Same meaning, but now “Die Panik” is in first position and “war” is still second. The original version just puts more emphasis on the time (“After the tutoring…”).

Could the sentence be “Die Panik war nach der Nachhilfe viel kleiner” instead?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

Die Panik war nach der Nachhilfe viel kleiner, und die Aufgabe war plötzlich verständlich.

Both versions are grammatical. The difference is only in emphasis:

Nach der Nachhilfe war die Panik … → emphasizes when the change happened.
Die Panik war nach der Nachhilfe … → starts by talking about the panic.

Why is it “war” and not a present perfect form like “ist … geworden”?

German often uses simple past (Präteritum) for written narrative, especially with the verb sein:

war = simple past of sein (“was”)

You could say:

Nach der Nachhilfe ist die Panik viel kleiner geworden.
Nach der Nachhilfe ist die Aufgabe plötzlich verständlich geworden.

This emphasizes the process of becoming smaller/understandable.

But the original uses “war” to simply describe the state after tutoring:

After the lesson, the situation was different (no focus on the change itself).

Why is it “viel kleiner” and not just “kleiner”?

In German, “viel” is used in front of a comparative to mean “much” / “a lot”:

klein – small
kleiner – smaller
viel kleiner – much smaller / a lot smaller

So:

Die Panik war kleiner. – The panic was smaller.
Die Panik war viel kleiner. – The panic was much smaller.

Other common intensifiers with comparatives:

etwas kleiner – a bit smaller
viel kleiner – much smaller
sehr viel kleiner – very much smaller

Is “Panik” used like “Angst”? Could I say “Die Angst war viel kleiner”?

You could say “Die Angst war viel kleiner”, and it’s correct, but there’s a nuance:

die Angst – fear; can be mild to strong.
die Panik – panic; stronger, more intense emotion, like being overwhelmed.

In this context, “Panik” suggests a stronger emotional reaction to the task. Using “Panik” also sounds quite natural in colloquial German:

Ich hatte totale Panik vor der Aufgabe. – I totally panicked about the assignment.

Why is there a comma before “und”?

In this sentence, “und” connects two full main clauses, each with its own subject and verb:

Nach der Nachhilfe war die Panik viel kleiner,
und die Aufgabe war plötzlich verständlich.

In German, when “und” connects two independent clauses, you normally put a comma before “und”.

If “und” only connected words or short phrases (not full clauses), you would not use a comma:

Die Panik und die Aufgabe waren plötzlich kein Problem mehr. – No comma here.

Why is “die Aufgabe” feminine?

Because “Aufgabe” is a feminine noun in German; you simply have to learn its gender:

die Aufgabe – task, assignment, exercise.

There’s no simple rule that predicts its gender; it’s just vocabulary. Some patterns help a bit:

Many nouns ending in -e are feminine (die Blume, die Schule, die Frage, die Aufgabe), but this is not 100% reliable.

So:

Nominative singular: die Aufgabe
In the sentence, die Aufgabe is the subject of the second clause:
… und die Aufgabe war plötzlich verständlich.

What exactly does “Aufgabe” mean here: task, problem, or exercise?

“Aufgabe” is quite flexible; it can mean:

task / assignment – in general:
- Ich muss meine Aufgaben für die Schule machen.
exercise / problem – especially in math, homework, exams:
- Die Matheaufgabe war schwer.

In this sentence, from context (tutoring, panic, understandable), “die Aufgabe” is best read as:

“the exercise / problem / assignment” (probably something from school or homework).

What is the difference between “verständlich” and something like “verstehbar”?

Both relate to understanding, but they are used differently.

verständlich – understandable, easy to understand, makes sense:
- Die Erklärung ist verständlich. – The explanation is understandable.
- Often used for explanations, texts, language, or situations.
verstehbar – understandable in a more technical or logical sense; much less common in everyday speech and can sound slightly formal or theoretical.

In this sentence:

Die Aufgabe war plötzlich verständlich.
means the task finally made sense / was easy to grasp.
“verstehbar” here would sound unnatural to most native speakers.

Why is the word order “war plötzlich verständlich” and not “war verständlich plötzlich”?

German has preferred positions for adverbs.

“plötzlich” is a time-related adverb (it describes the suddenness of the change).
In German, common word order in the middle field is often time – manner – place (TMP), and adverbs like “plötzlich” usually appear before the adjective they modify.

So:

Die Aufgabe war plötzlich verständlich. – natural
Die Aufgabe war verständlich plötzlich. – sounds wrong / unidiomatic.

You can also put “plötzlich” earlier for emphasis:

Plötzlich war die Aufgabe verständlich. – Now the suddenness is strongly emphasized.

Can I replace “plötzlich” with “auf einmal”?

Yes, very naturally:

Nach der Nachhilfe war die Panik viel kleiner, und die Aufgabe war auf einmal verständlich.

“auf einmal” and “plötzlich” often mean roughly the same (suddenly / all of a sudden), but:

plötzlich is a bit more neutral and slightly more formal.
auf einmal is very common in spoken German.

Both are fine in this context.