Breakdown of Falls ich das Passwort vergesse, hilft mir die Sicherheitsfrage unter dem Passwortfeld.
Questions & Answers about Falls ich das Passwort vergesse, hilft mir die Sicherheitsfrage unter dem Passwortfeld.
Both falls and wenn can be translated as if, and Wenn ich das Passwort vergesse, … is grammatically correct.
Nuance:
- falls = in case / if it happens that (often sounds a bit more tentative or hypothetical)
- wenn = neutral if/when, very common in everyday speech
In this sentence:
- Falls ich das Passwort vergesse suggests: in the event that I forget the password (sounds a bit more formal/written).
- Wenn ich das Passwort vergesse is more neutral and common in spoken German.
Both are acceptable; the difference is stylistic rather than grammatical.
Because falls introduces a subordinate clause.
In German subordinate clauses (introduced by words like falls, wenn, weil, dass, obwohl), the finite verb goes to the end of the clause:
- ich vergesse das Passwort → main clause (verb in 2nd position)
- falls ich das Passwort vergesse → subordinate clause (verb at the end)
Pattern:
- [Subordinating conjunction] + [subject] + [other elements] + [verb at the end]
The full main clause is:
- … hilft mir die Sicherheitsfrage unter dem Passwortfeld.
Word order rules in German main clauses:
- The finite verb must be in 2nd position.
- When a subordinate clause comes first, that entire clause counts as position 1.
- The verb of the main clause then comes immediately after, in position 2.
So:
- Falls ich das Passwort vergesse, = position 1 (whole clause)
- hilft = position 2 (main clause verb)
- Then comes the rest: mir die Sicherheitsfrage unter dem Passwortfeld
You could also say (more neutral order):
- Falls ich das Passwort vergesse, hilft die Sicherheitsfrage unter dem Passwortfeld mir.
But native speakers prefer hilft mir die Sicherheitsfrage, because short pronouns (like mir) often go earlier in the middle field.
Because helfen always takes the dative case, not the accusative.
- helfen + Dativ (to help someone)
- Ich helfe dir. – I help you. (dir = dative of du)
- Die Sicherheitsfrage hilft mir. – The security question helps me. (mir = dative of ich)
mich is the accusative form of ich, but helfen never uses accusative for the person being helped.
Cases in this sentence:
- mir (dative) – to me
- die Sicherheitsfrage (nominative) – subject (the thing doing the helping)
Use two strategies:
Case
- die Sicherheitsfrage is in the nominative (feminine singular: die).
- mir is dative (indirect object).
- The nominative usually marks the subject.
Who does what to whom?
- Who/what helps? → die Sicherheitsfrage → subject.
- Who is helped? → mir → indirect object.
So the logical and grammatical subject is die Sicherheitsfrage.
German noun gender is mostly arbitrary and must be learned with the noun.
- das Passwort – neuter (das)
- die Frage – feminine (die)
- die Sicherheit – feminine (die)
- die Sicherheitsfrage – also feminine (die)
For compound nouns like Sicherheitsfrage, the gender is determined by the last part of the compound:
- die Frage → therefore die Sicherheitsfrage
So:
- Sicherheit
- Frage → die Sicherheitsfrage (feminine)
unter is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition) and can take either dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:
- Dative → location (where something is)
- Accusative → movement (towards/into a place)
Here, we are talking about a fixed location: the security question is under the password field on the screen.
So we use dative:
- unter dem Passwortfeld = under the password field (location)
If it were movement (putting something under it), we would use accusative:
- Ich schiebe das Fenster unter das Passwortfeld.
I move the window under the password field. (movement → accusative)
Passwortfeld is a neuter noun:
- das Passwortfeld (nominative/accusative singular)
With the preposition unter + dative (location), we need the dative singular neuter article:
- Nominative/Accusative: das Passwortfeld
- Dative: dem Passwortfeld
So:
- unter dem Passwortfeld = under the password field (dative)
In the subordinate clause Falls ich das Passwort vergesse, German word order requires:
- falls (subordinating conjunction)
- ich (subject)
- das Passwort (object)
- vergesse (finite verb at the end)
So the subject ich must come right after falls, not after the verb. The structure falls vergesse ich would be ungrammatical.
Compare:
- Main clause: Ich vergesse das Passwort. (verb in 2nd position)
- Subordinate: … falls ich das Passwort vergesse. (verb at the end)
Yes, you can. Both are correct, but there is a nuance:
… hilft mir die Sicherheitsfrage …
Present tense: describes a general truth or typical behavior (whenever this happens, this is what helps me).… wird mir die Sicherheitsfrage helfen.
Future tense: puts more focus on the future event, but in everyday German, future is often expressed with the present tense when the time is clear.
In this context, the simple present hilft mir is more natural and idiomatic.
Formation:
- Sicherheit (security) + Frage (question) → Sicherheitsfrage (security question)
The last part (Frage) determines the gender: die Sicherheitsfrage.
Pronunciation (rough guide in English-like spelling):
- Sicherheitsfrage ≈ ZI-cher-heits-frah-guh
- ch as in German ich
- ei in -heits like eye
- a in Frage like the a in father
- final -e is a reduced sound, like a weak uh