Breakdown of Nach der Stunde erklärt sie mir ausführlich, wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann.
Questions & Answers about Nach der Stunde erklärt sie mir ausführlich, wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann.
In German, the preposition nach (in the sense of after (time)) always takes the dative case.
- die Stunde = nominative singular, feminine (dictionary form)
- der Stunde = dative singular, feminine
Because nach requires dative, the article must change to der:
- nach der Stunde = after the lesson / after the class
Literally, Stunde means hour, but in school and university contexts it very commonly means a lesson / class period.
So Nach der Stunde in this sentence is best understood as:
- After the lesson / after class, not necessarily after one exact 60-minute hour.
German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule:
- The conjugated verb must be in second position in the clause.
The “first position” can be many things: the subject, an adverb, or a prepositional phrase like Nach der Stunde. When that prepositional phrase is in first position, the subject moves after the verb:
- Sie erklärt mir … (subject first)
- Nach der Stunde erklärt sie mir … (time phrase first, verb still second)
So erklärt has to be the second element, which forces sie to come after it.
The verb erklären (to explain) works like this:
- someone explains something (direct object, accusative)
- to someone (indirect object, dative)
So the person you explain something to is in the dative:
- Sie erklärt mir etwas. – She explains something to me.
- mir = dative of ich
- mich would be accusative and is wrong here.
In your sentence, the “something” is the whole clause wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann, so mir is the person receiving the explanation (dative).
In English you might say: She explains it to me in detail, how I can improve my presentation.
In German, the subordinate clause itself can function as the thing being explained, so you don’t need a separate es:
- Sie erklärt mir ausführlich, wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann.
You could add es (e.g. Sie erklärt es mir), but then you’d normally say what es refers to separately. With a following wie-clause, es is usually omitted and the clause itself is treated as the object.
Both positions are possible, but the default, neutral order of elements in German main clauses generally is:
- Verb (second position)
- Subject (if not first)
- Pronouns (especially short object pronouns)
- Adverbs (like ausführlich) and longer phrases
So:
- … erklärt sie mir ausführlich, … (most natural)
- … erklärt sie ausführlich mir, … (grammatical but sounds unusual; puts extra emphasis on mir)
By putting mir before ausführlich, the sentence follows the usual pronoun-before-adverb pattern and sounds natural.
ausführlich means:
- in detail, thoroughly, at length
So erklärt sie mir ausführlich means she explains it to me in a detailed, thorough way, not just briefly or superficially.
The comma introduces a subordinate clause starting with wie (“how”).
In German:
- Main clauses: the conjugated verb is in second position.
- Sie erklärt mir das.
- Subordinate clauses (introduced by dass, weil, wenn, wie, etc.): the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause.
- …, wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann.
So:
- wie = subordinator (how)
- ich = subject
- mein Referat = object
- verbessern kann = verb complex, both verbs at the end, with the modal verb last
That’s why we get: wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann, not wie kann ich mein Referat verbessern (the latter would be a direct question, not a subordinate clause).
In a subordinate clause, all verbs move to the end, and when there are two verbs (a lexical verb + a modal), the order is:
- Full (lexical) verb (infinitive): verbessern
- Modal verb (infinitive or finite): kann
So the pattern is:
- …, wie ich [Object] [Infinitive] [Modal]
- …, wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann.
If you had a tense with more verbs, all of them would pile up at the end, with the finite/modal verb last.
Referat usually means:
- oral presentation (often in a school or university context)
It can sometimes mean a written report, but the most typical image for ein Referat halten is: standing in front of the class and giving a presentation, often based on notes or slides.
So in most learning/academic contexts, mein Referat = my presentation.
Yes, you can say both; they differ in nuance:
kann = can
- Focuses more on possibility / ability and sounds quite direct and neutral:
- how I can improve my presentation.
- Focuses more on possibility / ability and sounds quite direct and neutral:
könnte = could (subjunctive)
- Often sounds a bit more tentative / hypothetical / polite:
- how I could improve my presentation (for example / potentially).
- Often sounds a bit more tentative / hypothetical / polite:
In your original sentence, kann is the most straightforward choice and very common.
Yes, that’s perfectly grammatical and natural:
- Sie erklärt mir nach der Stunde ausführlich, wie ich mein Referat verbessern kann.
Both versions are fine:
Nach der Stunde erklärt sie mir ausführlich, …
– Puts emphasis first on time (“after the lesson, …”)Sie erklärt mir nach der Stunde ausführlich, …
– Puts the initial focus on she and the act of explaining.
German word order is flexible; moving Nach der Stunde changes the emphasis a bit but does not change the core meaning.
Lowercase sie can mean:
- she (third person singular, feminine)
- they (third person plural)
You usually know which one from context (earlier sentences, verb forms, etc.).
In this sentence:
- erklärt is third person singular (he/she/it explains).
- For they explain, you would need erklären:
- Nach der Stunde erklären sie mir … = After the lesson, they explain to me …
So because the verb is singular erklärt, sie here must mean she.