Learn Hardcore German: Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber auf dem breiten Weg laufen. - A small minority prefers to walk on the wide path.

the indefinite article must be feminine: eine, not ein
the adjective before a feminine noun in the nominative singular gets -e: kleine

So the pattern is:

eine kleine Minderheit (nominative, feminine)
Compare:
- ein kleiner Mann (masculine)
- ein kleines Kind (neuter)

The sentence’s subject is this whole phrase: eine kleine Minderheit.

Isn’t Minderheit already “minority”? Why add kleine?

Yes, Minderheit already means minority, so literally “a small minority” sounds a bit redundant in English too, but it’s common and idiomatic in both languages.

eine Minderheit = a minority
eine kleine Minderheit = a small minority, i.e. an especially small part of the whole

So kleine just emphasizes that this minority is very small. It’s a stylistic/numerical nuance, not a grammatical necessity.

Why is it Minderheit möchte and not Minderheit möchten?

The verb agrees with grammatical number, not logical meaning:

Minderheit is grammatically singular, so the verb is singular: möchte.
Even though a minority consists of many people, you treat it as one group grammatically.

This is similar to English:

The minority wants… (not want, in American English)
The team wins… (team = singular group)

In German you normally keep it clearly singular:
Die Minderheit möchte …

What exactly is möchte? How is it different from will or mag?

möchte is the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) form of mögen, but in modern German it functions like its own modal verb meaning would like (to).

möchte = would like to (polite, soft)
- Ich möchte gehen. – I’d like to go.
will = want(s) to (stronger, more direct)
- Ich will gehen. – I want to go.
mag = like(s) (usually not used with another verb’s infinitive)
- Ich mag Schokolade. – I like chocolate.
- With a verb you normally say ich mache etwas gern, not ich mag etwas tun.

In your sentence:

Eine kleine Minderheit möchte … laufen.
= A small minority would rather walk/run… (states a preference without sounding too forceful).

What does lieber mean here, and where does it go in the sentence?

lieber is the comparative form of the adverb gern:

gern = gladly, with pleasure, like doing something
lieber = rather / prefer to (literally: more gladly)

So:

Ich laufe gern. – I like running.
Ich laufe lieber. – I’d rather run / I prefer running.

In combinations with a modal verb like möchte, lieber usually sits in the “middle field” after the conjugated verb:

Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber auf dem breiten Weg laufen.

Other possible positions (with slight changes in emphasis) include:

Eine kleine Minderheit möchte auf dem breiten Weg lieber laufen.
Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber laufen, auf dem breiten Weg. (strong focus on the location, a bit unusual in isolation)

The version in your sentence is the most neutral and common.

Why is it auf dem breiten Weg and not auf den breiten Weg?

auf is a two-way preposition in German. It takes:

Dative if it describes a location (where?)
Accusative if it describes motion to a destination (where to?)

Here we have a location: they want to run on the broad path (their running happens there).

So we use dative:

auf dem breiten Weg (dative masculine)

Compare:

Wir laufen auf dem breiten Weg. – We’re running on the broad path. (location, dative)
Wir gehen auf den breiten Weg. – We’re going onto the broad path. (movement towards, accusative)

The idea is: Are you talking about being on something, or going onto something?

Why exactly dem breiten Weg? How do those endings work?

Weg is masculine: der Weg.

In the dative singular (masculine), the definite article and the adjective take:

Article: dem
Adjective ending: -en (weak declension after a definite article)

So:

Nominative: der breite Weg
Accusative: den breiten Weg
Dative: dem breiten Weg
Genitive: des breiten Weges / des breiten Wegs

Your phrase auf dem breiten Weg is dative, so: dem breiten.

Does laufen mean “walk” or “run” here? How is it different from gehen?

It depends a bit on region and context:

In standard German, laufen usually leans toward “to run”.
In some areas (especially in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland), laufen is often used for “to walk (by foot)” in everyday speech.

gehen generally means “to go (on foot) / to walk”.

So:

Ich gehe zur Schule. – I walk/go to school.
Ich laufe schnell. – I’m running fast. (or: I’m walking briskly – depending on regional usage)

In your sentence (without more context), laufen is safest to understand as move along the path on foot; whether that is walking or running would depend on the surrounding text or speaker.

Could we say Eine kleine Minderheit läuft lieber auf dem breiten Weg instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s a correct sentence, but the nuance changes:

möchte lieber laufen = would rather run / would prefer to run
→ Focus on wish/intention or preference (not necessarily what they are doing right now).
läuft lieber = prefers to run / tends to run rather
→ More like a general habit or fact about how they (usually) move.

So:

Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber auf dem breiten Weg laufen.
→ They would prefer to be / choose to be on the broad path (given an option).
Eine kleine Minderheit läuft lieber auf dem breiten Weg.
→ As a matter of habit, they tend to use the broad path.

What case is each noun phrase in this sentence?

Sentence: Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber auf dem breiten Weg laufen.

Eine kleine Minderheit
- Function: subject
- Case: nominative (feminine singular)
dem breiten Weg
- Function: object of preposition auf
- Because auf here expresses location (where?), it takes dative
- Case: dative (masculine singular)

What is the plural of Minderheit and Weg, and how would the sentence look in the plural?

Minderheit → plural: Minderheiten
- die Minderheit – die Minderheiten
Weg → plural: Wege
- der Weg – die Wege

If you wanted to say small minorities (less common conceptually), you’d get:

Kleine Minderheiten möchten lieber auf den breiten Wegen laufen.

Explanation:

Kleine Minderheiten – plural subject → verb möchten
auf den breiten Wegen – dative plural after auf (location)
- Article: den (dative plural)
- Adjective: breiten
- Noun: Wegen (with -n in dative plural)

Can auf dem breiten Weg be replaced with something like den breiten Weg entlang? What changes?

Yes, that’s possible with a slightly different nuance:

auf dem breiten Weg laufen
= run/walk on the broad path (location-focused)
den breiten Weg entlang laufen
= run/walk along the broad path (path/direction-focused)

Both are grammatical:

Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber auf dem breiten Weg laufen.
Eine kleine Minderheit möchte lieber den breiten Weg entlang laufen.

The second one emphasizes following the length of the path more strongly.

How do you pronounce Minderheit and möchte?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA and rough English hints):

Minderheit – /ˈmɪndɐhaɪ̯t/
- Min: like “min” in mint (short i)
- der: like “der” but with a relaxed -er /ɐ/
- heit: like English “hite” (rhymes with kite)
möchte – /ˈmœçtə/
- möch:
  - ö: like French eu in peur, or between English e in bed and u in burn
  - ch here is the soft /ç/ sound (like German ich)
- te: unstressed -te, like “tuh”

Stress in both words is on the first syllable: MÍN-der-heit, MÖCH-te.