Learn Hardcore German: Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte, wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht. - My brother loves a suit and tie when he goes to a wedding.

So with masculine Bruder, you must use mein, not meine.
Meine Bruder would be wrong; meine is used for feminine singular or any plural noun in the nominative.

Why can the sentence say Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte without any articles?

In German, articles can be dropped in some situations, especially when talking about things in a general way, like preferences or typical clothing.

Here, Anzug und Krawatte means “a suit and (a) tie” as a type of outfit, not specific items. This generic meaning allows the article to be omitted.

You could also say:

Mein Bruder liebt den Anzug und die Krawatte.
→ This sounds more like you’re talking about specific, known items (that particular suit and that particular tie).

So the version without articles is natural when you mean “He loves suit and tie (as a style).”

In English we would say “My brother loves wearing a suit and tie.” Where is “wearing” in the German sentence?

German often leaves out verbs like tragen (to wear) when the meaning is obvious from context, especially with verbs of liking such as lieben, mögen, or gern haben.

Literal structure:

Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte
= “My brother loves suit and tie.”

In natural English we add wearing, but in German it’s understood that he loves wearing that kind of outfit.

You could also say, more explicitly:

Mein Bruder trägt gern Anzug und Krawatte, wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht.
(“My brother likes to wear a suit and tie when he goes to a wedding.”)

Both are correct; the original just uses a shorter, idiomatic style.

Why is Krawatte singular and not plural, when English might say “suits and ties”?

German often uses the singular to talk about a type of thing or a standard combination:

Anzug und Krawatte = “(a) suit and (a) tie” as one typical outfit.

It doesn’t mean that he only has one tie; it means: whenever he goes to a wedding, his typical clothing choice is “suit and tie”.

You could say Anzüge und Krawatten, but that would focus more on different suits and ties in general, not the typical one-outfit idea. The singular here is more idiomatic.

Why is there a comma before wenn?

In German, any subordinate clause (dependent clause) must be separated from the main clause by a comma.

Main clause: Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte
Subordinate clause: wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht

The word wenn is a subordinating conjunction, so it introduces a subordinate clause.
Rule: main clause , wenn + subordinate clause → comma is required:

Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte, wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht.

No comma here would be a spelling/grammar mistake in standard written German.

Why is the verb at the end in wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht?

In German:

Main clauses: the conjugated verb is in 2nd position.
Subordinate clauses (introduced by words like wenn, weil, dass): the conjugated verb goes to the end.

So:

Main clause:
Mein Bruder (1) liebt (2) Anzug und Krawatte (rest).
Subordinate clause with “wenn”:
wenn (conjunction) er (subject) zu einer Hochzeit (other elements) geht (verb at the end).

This verb-final order is a core rule for subordinate clauses in German:

wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht
weil er zu einer Hochzeit geht
dass er zu einer Hochzeit geht, etc.

Why is it wenn and not wann?

Wenn and wann both translate as “when”, but they are used differently:

wenn = “when(ever)” / “whenever”, for:
- repeated/habitual actions
- conditions (“if/whenever”)
wann = “when?”, for:
- questions about time
- indirect questions about time

In this sentence:

Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte, wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht.
= “My brother loves a suit and tie when(ever) he goes to a wedding.”
(repeated/habitual situation → wenn)

Wann would be used in:

Wann geht er zu einer Hochzeit? = “When is he going to a wedding?”
Ich weiß nicht, wann er zu einer Hochzeit geht. = “I don’t know when he is going to a wedding.”

So wenn (not wann) is correct here.

Why is it zu einer Hochzeit and not zu eine Hochzeit?

Because the preposition zu always takes the dative case, and Hochzeit is feminine.

Declension of ein (indefinite article) in the singular:

Feminine:
- Nominative: eine Hochzeit (subject)
- Accusative: eine Hochzeit (direct object)
- Dative: einer Hochzeit ← used after zu

Since zu → dative, you need:

zu einer Hochzeit, not zu eine Hochzeit.

Formally:

zu
- dative feminine → zu einer Hochzeit.

Why is the preposition zu used here, and not nach, in, or auf?

German uses different prepositions for “to” depending on what you’re going to:

zu
- dative
  → for people and many events/occasions:
- zu einer Hochzeit gehen (go to a wedding)
- zu einem Geburtstag gehen (go to a birthday party)
- zu meiner Oma gehen (go to my grandma’s)
nach
→ for most cities, countries, and directions:
- nach Berlin, nach Deutschland, nach Hause
in (+ accusative for movement)
→ into enclosed spaces or some countries with articles:
- in die Schule gehen, in die Stadt gehen
auf (+ accusative for movement)
→ to surfaces, some events:
- auf den Berg gehen
- also idiomatic: auf eine Party / auf ein Konzert gehen

Here, zu einer Hochzeit gehen is a standard idiom for “go to a wedding”.
You can say auf eine Hochzeit gehen as well, and that’s also common. It feels slightly more like “attend a wedding (as an event)”, but both are natural.

Why is Hochzeit feminine, and how can I remember that?

Hochzeit takes the article die: die Hochzeit (the wedding).

A useful clue is the ending -heit:

Nouns ending in -heit (and its close relative -keit) are almost always feminine:
- die Freiheit (freedom)
- die Krankheit (illness)
- die Möglichkeit (possibility)

So with Hochzeit, remember:

die Hochzeit
Dative singular: der Hochzeit
With ein in the dative: einer Hochzeit → as in zu einer Hochzeit.

Why are Bruder, Anzug, Krawatte, and Hochzeit capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

So:

Bruder (brother) – noun → capitalized
Anzug (suit) – noun → capitalized
Krawatte (tie) – noun → capitalized
Hochzeit (wedding) – noun → capitalized

This is a fixed spelling rule in standard German and one of the most visible differences from English.

Does geht here mean he is walking on foot, or just “goes/attends” in general?

The verb gehen literally means “to go (on foot)”, but in many contexts it’s also used more generally like English “go” or “attend”:

zu einer Hochzeit gehen naturally means “to go to / attend a wedding”, not specifically “walk there”.

If you really want to stress the means of transport (drive, travel), you can use:

fahren (to drive / go by vehicle):
Er fährt zu einer Hochzeit. – He is driving / going (by car, etc.) to a wedding.

But in normal conversation, gehen is the standard, neutral verb here.

Does the present tense geht mean this is about now, the future, or a general habit?

In German, the present tense (Präsens) is used for:

Actions happening now
Future actions (especially when context makes it clear)
General habits and regular behavior

In this sentence:

Mein Bruder liebt Anzug und Krawatte, wenn er zu einer Hochzeit geht.

The meaning is clearly habitual: every time he goes to a wedding, that’s what he likes to wear.
So geht here expresses a general habit, not just one single future event.