Wir bezahlen heute die Stromrechnung.

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Breakdown of Wir bezahlen heute die Stromrechnung.

• heute: today
• bezahlen: to pay
• die Stromrechnung: the electricity bill

Questions & Answers about Wir bezahlen heute die Stromrechnung.

Why is the verb bezahlen in second position after Wir? In English I’d say “We pay the electricity bill today,” where “today” is not right after “we.”

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the conjugated verb must be in second position in the sentence, no matter what comes first.

In Wir bezahlen heute die Stromrechnung.

• Wir = first element
• bezahlen (the conjugated verb) = second element
• heute die Stromrechnung = everything else follows

If you move heute to the beginning for emphasis, the verb still stays second:

• Heute bezahlen wir die Stromrechnung.
  (Heute = first element, bezahlen = second, wir die Stromrechnung = rest)

So what matters is not “subject first” but “verb second.”

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Could I also say Heute bezahlen wir die Stromrechnung or Wir bezahlen die Stromrechnung heute? Do they mean the same thing?

Yes, both are correct and mean essentially the same thing: “We’re paying the electricity bill today.”

1. Wir bezahlen heute die Stromrechnung.
   – Neutral; normal word order (subject–verb–time–object).

2. Heute bezahlen wir die Stromrechnung.
   – Emphasis on heute (“today”): sounds like “Today (and not some other day) we’re paying the bill.”

3. Wir bezahlen die Stromrechnung heute.
   – Also correct. Time adverbs often appear right after the verb, but putting heute at the end is allowed and quite common in speech. It can sound a bit more like you’re adding “today” as an afterthought.

All three are grammatical. The main difference is emphasis and style, not meaning.

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Why is it and not ? How do I know the gender and case here?