Die Portion für meinen Bruder ist größer, weil er Sport gemacht hat.

The portion for my brother is bigger because he has exercised.

Breakdown of Die Portion für meinen Bruder ist größer, weil er Sport gemacht hat.

• sein: to be
• haben: to have
• groß: big
• er: he
• weil: because
• für: for
• mein: my
• der Bruder: the brother
• machen: to do
• der Sport: the sport
• die Portion: the portion

Questions & Answers about Die Portion für meinen Bruder ist größer, weil er Sport gemacht hat.

Why is it meinen Bruder and not mein Bruder or meinem Bruder?

Because of the preposition für.

• für always takes the accusative case.
• Bruder is masculine:
  
  • nominative: der Bruder / mein Bruder
  • accusative: den Bruder / meinen Bruder

So after für you must use the accusative: für meinen Bruder (for my brother).

Why is it die Portion? What gender is Portion?

Portion is a feminine noun in German, so its article in the nominative singular is die:

• die Portion – the portion

In this sentence, Die Portion is the subject (the thing that is larger), so it’s in the nominative case, and we use die.

Why is the verb in the main clause ist and not ist größer at the end?

German main clauses follow the verb‑second (V2) rule:

1. First position: Die Portion für meinen Bruder (the whole phrase counts as position 1)
2. Second position: ist (the finite verb)
3. The rest: größer

So the structure is:

• Die Portion für meinen Bruder – subject
• ist – verb (2nd position)
• größer – predicate adjective

This is standard main‑clause word order in German: the conjugated verb must be in second position, not at the end.

Why is it größer and not just groß?

größer is the comparative form of groß (big).

• groß – big
• größer – bigger / larger
• am größten – biggest / largest

The sentence compares this portion with some other portion (implied: my portion), so German uses the comparative form größer:

Die Portion … ist größer – The portion … is bigger.

Why does groß get an umlaut in größer?

Many one‑syllable adjectives add an umlaut in the comparative and superlative:

• groß → größer → am größten
• alt → älter → am ältesten
• jung → jünger → am jüngsten

So größer is just the regular comparative form of groß.

Why is it weil er Sport gemacht hat and not weil er Sport hat gemacht?

Because weil introduces a subordinate clause, and in such clauses the conjugated verb goes to the end.

The perfect tense is formed with:

• auxiliary verb: hat
• past participle: gemacht

In a main clause:

• Er hat Sport gemacht. – He did exercise.

In a weil‑clause (subordinate), the finite verb (hat) must be at the very end:

• weil er Sport gemacht hat – because he did exercise

So weil er Sport gemacht hat is correct;
weil er Sport hat gemacht is wrong in standard German.

Why is the verb at the end hat instead of gemacht?

In German subordinate clauses in the perfect tense, the finite verb (the conjugated auxiliary) must be last:

• auxiliary (conjugated): hat
• participle (non‑finite): gemacht

The typical order is: > … weil er Sport gemacht hat.

• er – subject
• Sport – object
• gemacht – past participle
• hat – finite verb (goes to the very end)

You cannot end the clause with gemacht; the conjugated part of the verb (hat) must be the final element.

Why do we say Sport gemacht instead of a special verb like “to exercise”?

German often uses Sport machen as a common everyday expression meaning to do sports / to exercise.

• Sport machen – to exercise / to work out
• perfect: Sport gemacht haben

Other options exist:

• Sport treiben – a bit more formal/literary: to do sports
• trainieren – to train, to work out (often more targeted training)

In casual speech, Sport machen is very common and neutral, so er hat Sport gemacht is a perfectly natural way to say he exercised.

Why is there no article before Sport? Why not den Sport or einen Sport?

When Sport means exercise / physical activity in general, German usually omits the article:

• Er macht Sport. – He exercises / does sports.
• Sie treibt viel Sport. – She does a lot of sport.

You would use an article when you talk about a specific sport or treat it as a countable event:

• den Sport, den ich mag – the sport that I like
• einen Sport ausüben – to practice a (specific) sport (more formal)

In this sentence, it’s general exercise, so Sport appears without an article.

Why is it er Sport gemacht hat and not ihn or ihm?

er is the subject pronoun (he), which matches the English meaning.

Pronouns:

• er – he (nominative, subject)
• ihn – him (accusative, direct object)
• ihm – him (dative, indirect object)

In weil er Sport gemacht hat, er is the one doing the action, so it must be nominative:

• er did the exercising → er Sport gemacht hat

Using ihn or ihm would make it an object, which doesn’t fit the meaning.

Could I say weil er Sport machte instead of weil er Sport gemacht hat? What is the difference?

Yes, weil er Sport machte is grammatically correct, but there is a stylistic difference:

• weil er Sport gemacht hat – perfect tense

  • Most common in spoken German for past events.
  • Neutral, everyday style.

• weil er Sport machte – simple past (Präteritum)

  • In spoken German, simple past is less common for regular verbs like machen.
  • More typical in written narratives (stories, books) or more formal writing.

For ordinary conversation, weil er Sport gemacht hat is the more natural choice.

Can für meinen Bruder appear in another position, like at the end of the sentence?

Yes, German word order allows some flexibility. These are all possible and correct, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Die Portion für meinen Bruder ist größer, weil er Sport gemacht hat.
   – Neutral; focuses on the portion for my brother as the topic.

2. Für meinen Bruder ist die Portion größer, weil er Sport gemacht hat.
   – Puts more emphasis on for my brother.

3. Die Portion ist für meinen Bruder größer, weil er Sport gemacht hat.
   – Slight emphasis shift, but still understandable.

All of them respect the key rules:

• main clause verb in 2nd position (ist),
• subordinate clause verb at the end (hat).