Learn Hardcore German: Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir bei starkem Wind im Haus. - Out of caution we stay inside when the wind is strong.

aus is a preposition that usually means “out of / from”.
With abstract nouns, aus can express a motive or reason:
- aus Liebe – out of love
- aus Angst – out of fear
- aus Höflichkeit – out of politeness
- aus Vorsicht – out of caution

So aus Vorsicht bleiben wir … ≈ “We stay … out of caution” / “out of precaution we stay …”.

Grammatically, aus always takes the dative case. Here there is no article (no der/die/das), so you don’t see a dative ending, but in full form it would be aus der Vorsicht (dative), not aus die Vorsicht.

Why is Vorsicht capitalized? Is it a noun or an adjective?

Vorsicht is a noun, so in German it is capitalized.

die Vorsicht – caution, care, carefulness

It is not an adjective (like vorsichtig = careful). German capitalizes all nouns, including abstract ones like:

die Liebe – love
die Freiheit – freedom
die Geduld – patience
die Vorsicht – caution

So Aus Vorsicht literally starts with a capitalized noun, as it should.

Why is there no article in aus Vorsicht? Why not aus der Vorsicht?

With many abstract nouns used to indicate a motive or manner, German often omits the article:

aus Vorsicht – out of caution
aus Angst – out of fear
aus Liebe – out of love
mit Freude – with joy

Using an article (aus der Vorsicht) is grammatically possible but sounds unusual here and would make it sound like a specific, defined “caution,” which is not meant. The idiomatic expression is without the article: aus Vorsicht.

Why does the verb come after wir? Why is it bleiben wir and not wir bleiben?

The basic word order in a German main clause is “verb in second position” (V2 rule).
“Second” means second element, not second word.

In the sentence:

Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir bei starkem Wind im Haus.

Aus Vorsicht is one element (a prepositional phrase) in position 1.
The finite verb (bleiben) must then be in position 2.
The subject wir comes after the verb.

So:

Standard order: Wir bleiben aus Vorsicht bei starkem Wind im Haus.
With fronted phrase: Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir bei starkem Wind im Haus.

Both are correct. The second version puts more emphasis on the reason (“out of caution”).

What case is starkem Wind, and why is it -em and not -en or something else?

starkem Wind is dative singular, masculine.

Wind is masculine: der Wind.
The preposition bei always takes the dative case.
With no article (no dem), the adjective takes the strong declension ending.

For masculine dative singular with strong declension, the ending is -em:

stark + dative masc. sg. → starkem Wind

Compare:

bei starkem Wind – in strong wind (no article → strong ending -em)
bei dem starken Wind – in the strong wind (article dem already shows case; adjective gets weak ending -en)

So bei starkem Wind is short for bei (dem) starken Wind, but in German it’s very natural to omit the article here.

Why is bei used with starkem Wind? Could I say mit starkem Wind instead?

Here bei means “in conditions of / when there is” and is typical in weather-related expressions:

bei Regen – when it’s raining / in the rain
bei Schnee – in the snow / when it’s snowing
bei Hitze – in hot weather
bei starkem Wind – in strong wind / when there is strong wind

mit starkem Wind would literally mean “with strong wind” and sounds odd in this context; it suggests accompanying something with wind, not weather conditions. For “when it’s windy / when there’s strong wind”, German idiomatically uses bei + dative.

Why is there no article in bei starkem Wind? Why not bei dem starken Wind?

Both are grammatically correct, but they don’t sound the same:

bei starkem Wind – “when it’s windy / in strong wind” in a general sense (typical, idiomatic).
bei dem starken Wind – “in the strong wind” referring to some specific wind already known from context.

For general weather or general conditions, German very often:

omits the article, and
uses bei + dative:
- bei Regen – (whenever there is) rain
- bei gutem Wetter – in good weather
- bei starkem Wind – in strong wind

So bei starkem Wind is the normal, general expression here.

What is the difference between im Haus and zu Hause / zuhause in this sentence?

Both can often be translated as “at home”, but they are not identical:

im Haus = “in the building / inside the house”
- Focus on being inside a particular building (could also be someone else’s house, or any building).
zu Hause / zuhause = “at home” (your home, where you live)
- Focus on your home as a place of living, not just any building.

In your sentence:

… bleiben wir bei starkem Wind im Haus.

This literally says: “we stay inside the house when the wind is strong.”
If the intended nuance is “we stay at home,” you could also say:

Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir bei starkem Wind zu Hause.

Both are correct; im Haus sounds a bit more like the physical interior of the building.

Could I replace bei starkem Wind with a clause like wenn es stark windet? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can, and it’s common:

Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir zu Hause, wenn es stark windet.
– Out of caution we stay at home when it’s very windy.

Differences:

bei starkem Wind:
- more compact, slightly more formal or written style
- focuses on the condition (“in strong wind” as a state)
wenn es stark windet:
- full subordinate clause with a verb (windet)
- sounds more spoken and explicit (“when it is very windy”)

Both are natural; choice is mostly about style and emphasis, not correctness.

Is bleiben here just “to stay,” or does it imply something more like “remain / not go outside”?

In this context, bleiben means “to stay / remain (in a place)” and strongly implies “not leave / not go outside”:

Wir bleiben im Haus. – We stay in the house (we don’t go outside).
Wir bleiben zu Hause. – We stay home (we don’t go out).

So your sentence can be understood as:
“Out of caution, we don’t go outside when the wind is strong; we stay inside the house.”

Can I change the word order to Wir bleiben aus Vorsicht bei starkem Wind im Haus? Is there a difference in meaning?

Yes, that is also correct:

Wir bleiben aus Vorsicht bei starkem Wind im Haus.
Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir bei starkem Wind im Haus.

Both mean the same. The difference is emphasis:

Wir bleiben … (subject first): neutral statement, no special focus.
Aus Vorsicht bleiben wir … (reason first): highlights the reason; stylistically a bit more pointed: “Out of caution, we …”

German allows flexible word order as long as the finite verb is in second position in main clauses.