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Wenn es etwas gibt, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.

Wenn es etwas gibt, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.
If there is something that our friendship really needs, then it is honesty.
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Questions & Answers about Wenn es etwas gibt, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.

Why does the sentence start with Wenn and why does the verb gibt go to the end of that clause?

Wenn introduces a subordinate clause (a Nebensatz) that expresses a condition: Wenn es etwas gibt … (If there is something …).

In German subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, ob, the finite verb goes to the end of the clause:

  • es = dummy subject
  • etwas = object
  • gibt = finite verb, moved to the end because of wenn

So:

  • Main clause word order: Es gibt etwas.
  • Subordinate clause with wenn: Wenn es etwas gibt …
What exactly is es gibt, and why do we need es there?

Es gibt is a fixed expression meaning there is / there are.

  • es here is a dummy subject (it doesn’t refer to anything concrete)
  • gibt is from geben (to give), but in this expression it just functions like there is

So Es gibt etwas literally is It gives something, but idiomatically it means There is something. You cannot drop es; Gibt etwas is wrong in standard German.

Why is it etwas gibt and not gibt etwas after es?

In a wenn-clause, the verb goes to the final position, but the order before the verb is still relatively flexible.

Here we have:

  • es (subject)
  • etwas (object)
  • gibt (verb, at the end because of wenn)

So the neutral order is es etwas gibt. Putting etwas before es (Wenn etwas es gibt) would sound wrong here. You still keep normal subject–object order; only the verb is moved to the end.

Why is it was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht and not das unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht?

After indefinite words like:

  • etwas (something)
  • nichts (nothing)
  • alles (everything)
  • viel, wenig, etc.

German typically uses was as the relative pronoun, not das.

So:

  • etwas, was …
  • nichts, was …
  • alles, was …

Therefore etwas, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht is the standard pattern.
Using etwas, das … is sometimes heard, but etwas, was … is clearly more natural in modern spoken and written German.

What kind of clause is was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, and why is there a comma before was?

was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht is a relative clause. It tells us more about etwas:

  • etwas, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht
    → something that our friendship really needs

Relative clauses are always set off by commas in German. So the comma before was is mandatory, because it marks the beginning of the relative clause.

Why is the verb braucht at the end of was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht?

Relative clauses are also subordinate clauses, just like wenn-clauses. In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb goes to the end.

Word order inside the clause:

  • was = relative pronoun (object of braucht)
  • unsere Freundschaft = subject
  • wirklich = adverb
  • braucht = verb, at the end

So: was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht is the normal relative clause order.

What is the grammatical role and gender of unsere Freundschaft here?

unsere Freundschaft is:

  • Gender: feminine (die Freundschaft)
  • Case: nominative, because it is the subject of braucht
  • Number: singular

The clause unsere Freundschaft braucht Ehrlichkeit on its own would mean our friendship needs honesty.

Inside the bigger sentence, this clause is part of the relative clause (was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht).

Why is Ehrlichkeit capitalized, and why is there no article (die) before it?

  1. Capitalization:
    All nouns in German are capitalized. Ehrlichkeit is a noun (abstract noun) → Ehrlichkeit.

  2. No article:
    Abstract nouns like Ehrlichkeit, Geduld, Liebe often appear without an article when you talk about the concept in general:

    • Ehrlichkeit ist wichtig. = Honesty is important.
    • Geduld ist eine Tugend.

Here, Ehrlichkeit is used in that general, abstract sense, so no article is needed.

Why is wirklich placed before braucht and not somewhere else?

wirklich (really) is an adverb modifying the verb braucht (needs). In subordinate clauses, common adverb positions are:

  • Before the verb at the end
  • After the subject, before the object (depending on emphasis)

Here we have:

  • unsere Freundschaft (subject)
  • wirklich (adverb)
  • braucht (verb at the end)

This is a very natural placement: unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht = really needs.

What is the function of dann in the second part dann ist es Ehrlichkeit?

Wenn … dann … is a common pairing in German, similar to if … then … in English.

Here, dann:

  • Emphasizes the consequence or result of the condition in the wenn-clause
  • Makes the sentence sound more balanced and rhetorical

It is optional in many cases:

  • Wenn es etwas gibt, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, ist es Ehrlichkeit.
  • Wenn es etwas gibt, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.

Both are correct; including dann adds a slight rhetorical emphasis.

Why is it ist es Ehrlichkeit and not just ist Ehrlichkeit?

German often uses a dummy pronoun es in copula sentences (with sein) for balance and emphasis. Here:

  • dann ist es Ehrlichkeit = then it is honesty

This es does not refer to anything concrete; it’s there because we’re echoing etwas from the first part:

  • Wenn es etwas gibt … dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.

You could say Dann ist Ehrlichkeit das, was …, but the given structure with es is much more natural here.

Can I change the word order in the second part, like Dann ist Ehrlichkeit es?

No, Dann ist Ehrlichkeit es is not idiomatic in standard German.

The natural options are:

  • Dann ist es Ehrlichkeit. (normal, neutral)
  • Dann ist Ehrlichkeit das, was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht. (different structure)

But Dann ist Ehrlichkeit es sounds wrong. Unlike English, where Then honesty is it would also be odd, German keeps es in the usual position before the predicate noun here.

Could this sentence also be expressed without a wenn … dann structure?

Yes. A very natural alternative is to turn the relative clause into the main focus:

  • Was unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, ist Ehrlichkeit.
    → What our friendship really needs is honesty.

This has the same basic meaning but:

  • Puts what our friendship needs in the focus at the beginning
  • Drops the conditional wenn idea and just states it as a fact
Is Wenn es etwas gibt, was … really conditional, like a real if, or is it more rhetorical?

Here it’s mostly rhetorical. It does not really express doubt that there is such a thing; it’s more like a stylistic way of saying:

  • The one thing our friendship really needs is honesty.

This use of Wenn es etwas gibt, was …, dann … is quite common in spoken and written German as a way to introduce a strong statement with a bit of build-up and emphasis.

Are there more formal or slightly different versions of this sentence?

Yes, you might see for example:

  • Falls es etwas gibt, das unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.
    (using falls and das – a bit more formal, but still normal)

  • Wenn es eine Sache gibt, die unsere Freundschaft wirklich braucht, dann ist es Ehrlichkeit.
    (eine Sache, die instead of etwas, was, slightly clearer and more concrete)

The original, however, is perfectly natural and idiomatic.