Learn Hardcore German: Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin, weil sie so freundlich erklärt. - My brother raves about the new teacher because she explains things so kindly.

Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin, weil sie so freundlich erklärt.

My brother raves about the new teacher because she explains things so kindly.

Breakdown of Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin, weil sie so freundlich erklärt.

the; (feminine, dative)

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Questions & Answers about Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin, weil sie so freundlich erklärt.

What exactly does schwärmt von mean here? Is my brother just talking about the teacher, or does he have a crush on her?

Schwärmen von (jemandem/etwas) literally means to rave about someone/something, to enthuse about, to gush about.

In this sentence:

Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin
→ My brother goes on and on about the new teacher / is always raving about the new teacher.

Depending on context, it can suggest he might have a crush, but schwärmen von itself does not automatically mean romantic interest. It mainly describes very enthusiastic, admiring talking.

Compare:

Er schwärmt von seinem neuen Auto. – He’s raving about his new car.
Die Kinder schwärmen von dem Freizeitpark. – The kids are gushing about the amusement park.

So it’s strong enthusiasm, sometimes with a touch of admiration or infatuation, but not necessarily romantic by itself.

Why is it schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin and not schwärmt über die neue Lehrerin or schwärmt für?

German uses different prepositions with schwärmen, and they are not interchangeable:

schwärmen von + Dativ
→ to rave/gush about something you’re talking about
- Er schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin. – He raves about the new teacher.
- Sie schwärmt von ihrer Reise. – She gushes about her trip.
schwärmen für + Akkusativ
→ to be crazy about / to be a big fan of (often more about liking than talking)
- Er schwärmt für Rockmusik. – He is crazy about rock music.
- Sie schwärmt für Schokolade. – She absolutely loves chocolate.

Using über here (schwärmen über) is not idiomatic in standard German. So:

Talking enthusiastically about someone/something → von
Being really into something / being a big fan → für

Why is it von der neuen Lehrerin and not von die neue Lehrerin or von der neue Lehrerin?

The preposition von always takes the dative case.

The noun is die Lehrerin (feminine). Feminine singular in the dative has:

Article: der (not die)
Adjective ending: -en after a definite article

So we get:

Nominative: die neue Lehrerin – the new (female) teacher
Dative: von der neuen Lehrerin – from / about the new (female) teacher

Breaking it down:

von → requires dative
Feminine dative singular article → der
Adjective in dative after a definite article → neu + en = neuen
Noun (Lehrerin) stays the same

Hence: von der neuen Lehrerin is the correct dative form.

Why does the adjective end in -en (neuen Lehrerin) instead of just neu?

Adjective endings in German depend on:

The case (here: dative)
The gender/number (here: feminine singular)
Whether there is a definite article (der/die/das) before the adjective (here: der)

Pattern for feminine dative singular with a definite article:

der + Adjective(-en) + Noun

Examples:

mit der netten Frau – with the nice woman
von der alten Freundin – from the old (female) friend
bei der neuen Lehrerin – at/with the new (female) teacher

So neuen is just the regular dative feminine ending after der.

Why is it Lehrerin and not Lehrer? What’s the difference?

In German, many professions have a specifically marked feminine form.

der Lehrer – the (male or generic) teacher
die Lehrerin – the female teacher

The ending -in makes it explicitly feminine. The plural forms:

die Lehrer – the teachers (all-male or mixed group)
die Lehrerinnen – the female teachers

In the sentence, der neuen Lehrerin clearly refers to a female teacher.

In weil sie so freundlich erklärt, who does sie refer to: my brother or the teacher?

Here sie refers to die neue Lehrerin.

Reason:

Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin
→ Two candidates: Mein Bruder (masculine) and der neuen Lehrerin (feminine).

In the second part:

weil sie so freundlich erklärt – because she explains so kindly

The pronoun sie is feminine singular, so it matches die Lehrerin, not der Bruder.

If we wanted to refer to the brother, we’d have to use er:

weil er so freundlich erklärt – because he explains so kindly

Why does the verb go to the end in weil sie so freundlich erklärt?

Weil introduces a subordinate clause (Nebensatz). In German, subordinate clauses have the finite verb at the end.

Structure:

Main clause: Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin,
→ normal word order: Subject – Verb – ...
Subordinate clause: weil sie so freundlich erklärt.
→ weil (subordinating conjunction) pushes the verb erklärt to the end.

Basic pattern:
..., weil + Subject + (objects/adverbs) + Verb (finite).

Some colloquial German uses verb-second after weil (e.g. weil sie erklärt so freundlich), but in standard written German, the correct form is weil sie so freundlich erklärt with erklärt at the end.

Is freundlich here an adjective or an adverb? Why no extra ending like freundlich → freundliche?

In German, most adjectives and adverbs have the same basic form.

As an adjective before a noun:
- eine freundliche Lehrerin – a friendly teacher
  Here it gets an ending (freundlich + e) because it’s before a noun and marked for case/gender/number.
As an adverb (describing how someone does something):
- Sie erklärt freundlich. – She explains in a friendly way.
  No extra ending; it stays freundlich.

In weil sie so freundlich erklärt, freundlich is an adverb describing how she explains. Therefore it appears in its base form without an ending.

What does so add in so freundlich erklärt? Is it like English “so”, “very”, or “therefore”?

Here so is an intensifier, similar to English so or really:

sie erklärt freundlich – she explains in a friendly way
sie erklärt so freundlich – she explains so friendly / really friendly

It does not mean therefore here. In German, so can mean therefore, but usually in a different structure (e.g. Es regnet, so bleiben wir zu Hause. – It’s raining, so we’re staying at home).

In this sentence, so simply strengthens freundlich:

so freundlich ≈ so friendly, very friendly, really friendly

Can erklärt really stand alone like that? Explain what? Shouldn’t there be an object, like erklärt den Stoff or erklärt alles?

The verb erklären is normally transitive, so it often takes an object:

Sie erklärt den Text. – She explains the text.
Der Lehrer erklärt die Grammatik. – The teacher explains the grammar.

However, German often leaves the object implicit if it’s clear from context or if the focus is on how someone explains rather than what they explain.

In a school context, everyone knows teachers explain the material/subject, so you can say:

Sie erklärt gut. – She explains well.
Sie erklärt sehr verständlich. – She explains very clearly.
Sie erklärt so freundlich. – She explains so kindly.

The missing object is understood as the lesson, the subject matter, what needs to be explained.

What tense is schwärmt here, and does it describe a one-time event or a general habit?

Schwärmt is 3rd person singular, present tense of schwärmen.

Present tense in German can describe:

Something happening right now:
- Er schwärmt gerade von der neuen Lehrerin. – He’s (right now) raving about the new teacher.
A general or repeated behavior (habit):
- Mein Bruder schwärmt von der neuen Lehrerin. – My brother keeps raving about the new teacher / is always going on about her.

Your sentence most naturally suggests an ongoing/repeated behavior, similar to English He’s always raving about the new teacher.