Learn Hardcore German: Meine Atmung ist ruhig, wenn ich im Garten sitze. - My breathing is calm when I sit in the garden.

The dictionary form is die Atmung (feminine).
Possessive words like mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, etc. must agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun.

Here, Atmung is:

singular
feminine
nominative (it’s the subject of the sentence)

So the correct form is:

meine Atmung (feminine nominative singular)

If it were a masculine noun in the nominative singular, you would use mein, e.g. mein Garten.

What’s the difference between Atmung, Atem, and Atmen?

All three are related to “breathing,” but they’re used differently:

die Atmung
A noun meaning “breathing” as a process or state.
Used in more formal/medical/technical language or when talking about breathing in a more abstract way.
- Meine Atmung ist ruhig. – My breathing is calm.
- Die Atmung des Patienten ist unregelmäßig.
der Atem
A noun meaning “breath” (the air you breathe in and out).
- Ich halte den Atem an. – I hold my breath.
- Mir stockte der Atem. – My breath stopped / I was breathless (from shock).
das Atmen
A gerund-like noun formed from the verb atmen (“to breathe”), meaning “breathing” as an activity.
- Tiefes Atmen hilft gegen Stress. – Deep breathing helps against stress.

In everyday speech, for a sentence like this, meine Atmung and mein Atem are both possible, but they have slightly different feels:

Meine Atmung ist ruhig. – focuses more on the breathing process (sounds a bit more technical or body-focused).
Mein Atem ist ruhig. – focuses more on the breath itself; sounds a bit more natural in everyday language.

Why is it ist ruhig and not ist ruhige?

Because ruhig here is a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly in front of a noun.

There are two main uses of adjectives:

Attributive (before a noun): they get endings.
- eine ruhige Atmung – a calm breathing
- meine ruhige Atmung – my calm breathing
Predicative (after sein, werden, bleiben, etc.): no endings.
- Meine Atmung ist ruhig. – My breathing is calm.
- Der Garten ist schön. – The garden is beautiful.

In this sentence, ruhig describes the state of Atmung via the verb ist, so it stays in the basic form ruhig, without an ending.

Could I say Meine Atmung ist ruhig, wenn ich im Garten bin instead of …wenn ich im Garten sitze?

Yes, grammatically that’s fine, but it changes the nuance slightly.

…wenn ich im Garten sitze. – emphasizes your posture; you are specifically sitting in the garden.
…wenn ich im Garten bin. – just says you are in the garden (you could be standing, walking, etc.).

Both are correct. The original sentence highlights that sitting relaxed in the garden is what calms your breathing.

Why is there a comma before wenn?

Because wenn ich im Garten sitze is a subordinate clause (Nebensatz). In German:

Subordinate clauses introduced by words like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl, als, während, etc. are normally separated from the main clause by a comma.

So the structure is:

Main clause: Meine Atmung ist ruhig,
Subordinate clause: wenn ich im Garten sitze.

The comma is mandatory in standard written German.

Why is the verb sitze at the end of wenn ich im Garten sitze?

In German, in most subordinate clauses (Nebensätze) introduced by words like wenn, weil, dass, the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause.

Pattern:

wenn
- subject + other elements + verb (conjugated)

So we get:

wenn – conjunction
ich – subject
im Garten – prepositional phrase (place)
sitze – conjugated verb at the end

→ wenn ich im Garten sitze

In contrast, in a main clause, the finite verb is in second position:

Ich sitze im Garten.
Meine Atmung ist ruhig.

Can I start the sentence with wenn and put the main clause second?

Yes. You can reverse the order of the two clauses:

Meine Atmung ist ruhig, wenn ich im Garten sitze.
Wenn ich im Garten sitze, ist meine Atmung ruhig.

Both are correct and mean the same thing.

Note one detail: when the subordinate clause comes first, the main clause that follows still obeys the verb-second rule:

Wenn ich im Garten sitze, – full subordinate clause
ist – verb (must come first in the main clause part)
meine Atmung – subject
ruhig. – predicate adjective

Why is it wenn and not als or wann?

These three are easy to mix up:

wenn
- “when” in the sense of whenever / every time that / if
- used for repeated events (past, present, or future) or for general conditions.
- Wenn ich im Garten sitze, ist meine Atmung ruhig. – Whenever I sit in the garden, my breathing is calm.
als
- “when” for one single event in the past.
- Als ich ein Kind war, hatte ich Angst im Dunkeln. – When I was a child, …
wann
- “when” in questions (direct or indirect) about time.
- Wann kommst du? – When are you coming?
- Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt. – I don’t know when he’s coming.

In this sentence, it’s about a general, repeated situation (“whenever I sit in the garden…”), so wenn is the correct choice.

What does im mean, and why not say in dem Garten?

im is simply the contracted form of in dem:

in (preposition) + dem (dative masculine singular article)
→ im

Garten is masculine: der Garten. With in and a location (where?), you use the dative:

in dem Garten → im Garten

Both forms are grammatically correct; im is much more natural in everyday speech and writing.

You would only say in dem Garten explicitly if you want to emphasize the “that specific garden,” but usually im Garten is enough.

Why is Garten in the dative case here?

The preposition in can take dative or accusative:

Dative = location (where?) – no movement
Accusative = direction (where to?) – movement into something

In the sentence:

wenn ich im Garten sitze – “when I am sitting in the garden”

You are describing a location, not movement toward it. The question is Wo? (“Where?”), so you use dative:

in + dem Garten → im Garten (dative)

If you described moving into the garden, you’d use accusative:

Ich gehe in den Garten. – I go into the garden.

Could it be wenn ich in dem Garten sitze instead of im Garten?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

wenn ich in dem Garten sitze

But:

im Garten is the normal, neutral form.
in dem Garten would usually sound slightly more emphatic or specific, like “in that particular garden (not another one).”

In everyday conversation, people overwhelmingly use im Garten.

Why is the tense present (ist, sitze) even though this feels like a general habit?

German uses the present tense (Präsens) for:

actions happening right now
regular/habitual actions
general truths

The sentence expresses a general/habitual fact about you:

Whenever you sit in the garden, your breathing is calm.

So ist and sitze in the present tense are exactly right.
There’s no special tense like English “used to” needed for this meaning.

Could I also say Mein Atem ist ruhig, wenn ich im Garten sitze?

Yes, that’s possible and quite natural.

Meine Atmung ist ruhig… – focuses a bit more on the breathing process, sounds slightly more technical/anatomical.
Mein Atem ist ruhig… – focuses on your breath, and is very common in everyday language.

Both are correct; which one is “better” depends on style and context. In a medical or yoga context, Atmung might appear more often; in casual conversation, Atem is very typical.

Why is it ich sitze and not just ich bin im Garten?

You could say:

Meine Atmung ist ruhig, wenn ich im Garten bin.

That’s correct German.

However, sitze adds more detail:

ich sitze im Garten – you are sitting (likely relaxed, maybe on a chair or bench).
ich bin im Garten – you are simply in the garden (possibly standing, walking, working, etc.).

The original sentence specifically connects calm breathing with the idea of sitting peacefully in the garden.