Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen, aber ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert.

After that my mother bakes a cake, but I am waiting for a special dessert.

Breakdown of Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen, aber ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert.

• ich: I
• aber: but
• mein: my
• danach: then
• der Kuchen: the cake
• backen: to bake
• die Mutter: the mother
• warten auf: to wait for
• einen: a; (masculine, accusative)
• ein: a; (neuter, accusative)
• besonders: special
• das Dessert: the dessert

Questions & Answers about Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen, aber ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert.

Why does the sentence start with Danach and then put the verb (backt) before the subject (meine Mutter)?

In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must be in second position. That “second position” is grammatical, not just literal word count.

Here the structure is:

1. Danach – element in first position (an adverbial of time: after that).
2. backt – the conjugated verb in second position.
3. meine Mutter – the subject.
4. einen Kuchen – the direct object.

So:

• Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen.
  (After that bakes my mother a cake. – but in English we say “After that, my mother bakes a cake.”)

If you don’t start with Danach, then the subject can be first and the verb stays second:

• Meine Mutter backt danach einen Kuchen.

Both are correct; German just insists the finite verb is in position 2.

What is the difference between danach, dann, and später?

All three can relate to time, but they’re used a bit differently:

• danach – after that / after(wards), usually refers back to a previously mentioned event in a more explicit sequence.

  • Wir essen zu Mittag. Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen.
    (We eat lunch. After that, my mother bakes a cake.)

• dann – very common, often just then in a sequence, and slightly more informal/neutral.

  • Wir essen zu Mittag. Dann backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen.

• später – later; it’s vaguer about exact order, more about some later time.

  • Wir essen zu Mittag. Später backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen.
    (We eat lunch. Later, my mother bakes a cake. – could be much later.)

In this sentence, Danach emphasizes that the baking happens right after whatever came before, as the next step in a sequence.

Why is it backt and not something like bäckt or backen?

The verb is backen (to bake).

• Infinitive: backen
• 3rd person singular present (he/she/it): er/sie/es backt (or bäckt)

So in standard modern German:

• meine Mutter backt
• meine Mutter bäckt

Both backt and bäckt are accepted for the present tense; backt (completely regular) is now more common in standard usage.
backen would be the infinitive and cannot be used as the finite verb in this position.

The sentence needs the 3rd person singular present form, so backt is correct.

Why is it einen Kuchen and not ein Kuchen?

This is about case and gender.

• Kuchen is masculine (der Kuchen).
• In the sentence, Kuchen is the direct object (what is being baked), so it must be in the accusative case.

The indefinite article ein changes in the accusative masculine:

• Nominative masculine: ein Kuchen (as subject)
  
  • Ein Kuchen liegt auf dem Tisch. (A cake is lying on the table.)
• Accusative masculine: einen Kuchen (as direct object)
  
  • Meine Mutter backt einen Kuchen. (My mother bakes a cake.)

So einen Kuchen is correct because it’s the object of backt.

Why is Mutter capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of whether they’re common nouns or proper names.

• Mutter, Kuchen, Dessert are all nouns → they must start with a capital letter.
• Verbs (backt, warte) and adjectives (besonderes) are not capitalized (unless they start the sentence or are turned into nouns, which isn’t the case here).

Why is it ein besonderes Dessert and not ein besonderer Dessert or ein besondern Dessert?

This is about adjective endings.

• Dessert is neuter: das Dessert.
• In the sentence, Dessert is the direct object of warte auf, so it’s accusative.
• The article is ein (indefinite article, not kein, not a possessive).

For neuter, singular, accusative with ein, the adjective ending is -es:

• ein besonderes Dessert

Compare:

• das besondere Dessert – neuter nominative with das → -e
• ein besonderes Dessert – neuter accusative with ein → -es

So besonderes is the correct form here.

Why do you say auf ein besonderes Dessert warten? Why auf, and which case does it take?

The verb warten (to wait) normally combines with the preposition auf when you say what you’re waiting for:

• auf etwas warten – to wait for something

This auf always takes the accusative in this expression.

So:

• Ich warte auf dich. – I’m waiting for you.
• Wir warten auf den Bus. – We’re waiting for the bus.
• Ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert. – I’m waiting for a special dessert.

That’s why:

• auf
  • ein besonderes Dessert (accusative) is used, not für ein besonderes Dessert or something else.

Why is it ich warte and not ich wartet or ich wartest?

warten is a regular verb. Its present tense forms are:

• ich warte – I wait / I am waiting
• du wartest – you wait (informal singular)
• er/sie/es wartet – he/she/it waits
• wir warten – we wait
• ihr wartet – you (plural informal) wait
• sie/Sie warten – they / you (formal) wait

So with ich, you must use warte:

• ich warte – not ich wartet, not ich wartest.

Why is there a comma before aber, and what does aber do to the word order?

In this sentence, aber connects two main clauses:

1. Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen
2. ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert

German requires a comma between two main clauses connected by aber, so:

• …, aber ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert.

As for aber and word order:

• aber is a coordinating conjunction (like und, oder).
• In German, a coordinating conjunction does not change the standard word order in the following clause: the conjugated verb still comes in second position.

So after aber, the new clause is:

• ich – first element
• warte – verb in second position
• auf ein besonderes Dessert – rest of the predicate.

That’s why it’s:

• …, aber ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert.
  and not something like …, aber warte ich auf ein besonderes Dessert.

Why is aber used here, and not sondern?

Both can translate to “but”, but they are used differently:

• aber: general contrast or addition.
• sondern: used after a negation to correct or replace something (like “but rather / but instead”).

Your sentence:

• Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen, aber ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert.
  → There is a contrast: she is baking a cake, but I’m (only) interested in a special dessert. No explicit negation is being corrected.

sondern would be used like:

• Meine Mutter backt keinen Kuchen, sondern ein besonderes Dessert.
  (My mother isn’t baking a cake, but rather a special dessert.)

Since the second clause is not correcting a negation, aber is the right conjunction.

Both clauses use the present tense (backt, warte), but the meaning feels more like the future. Is that normal in German?

Yes. German often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when the context or a time expression makes the future meaning clear.

• Danach backt meine Mutter einen Kuchen. – After that, my mother will bake a cake.
• Ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert. – I’m waiting for a special dessert / I’ll be waiting for a special dessert.

You could use the future tense with werden:

• Danach wird meine Mutter einen Kuchen backen.
• Ich werde auf ein besonderes Dessert warten.

But in everyday speech and writing, the simple present as in your sentence is more common and perfectly natural.

Is there any difference between Kuchen and Dessert in German, or are they just both “dessert”?

They are not the same:

• Kuchen – usually a cake or sweet baked good, often served with coffee, in the afternoon, or as a dessert, but it specifically means a baked cake/pastry.

  • Apfelkuchen, Käsekuchen, etc.

• Dessert – the final course of a meal, like “dessert” in English. It can be many things: cake, pudding, ice cream, fruit, etc.

In your sentence:

• meine Mutter backt einen Kuchen – she bakes a cake.
• ich warte auf ein besonderes Dessert – I’m waiting for some special final course (which might or might not be that cake).

So Kuchen is a type of food (a cake), while Dessert is a course in a meal, and can include many types of sweets.