Breakdown of Ich besuche einen neuen Sprachkurs, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte.
Questions & Answers about Ich besuche einen neuen Sprachkurs, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte.
In German, besuchen is the standard verb for attending or going to something regularly, especially:
- a course: einen Sprachkurs besuchen – to attend a language course
- a school/university: die Schule / die Universität besuchen – to attend school / university
- a class/event: einen Workshop / ein Seminar besuchen – to attend a workshop / seminar
Literally, besuchen can mean “to visit”, but in the context of courses, schools, etc., it is understood as “to attend”.
You could say Ich gehe zu einem Sprachkurs, but that usually emphasizes the physical act of going somewhere (today/now), while Ich besuche einen Sprachkurs expresses the idea of being enrolled and attending it regularly.
Einen neuen Sprachkurs is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the verb besuchen:
- Wer? (Who?) – Ich (subject, nominative)
- Wen oder was? (Whom or what do I attend?) – einen neuen Sprachkurs (direct object, accusative)
For a masculine noun with the indefinite article in the accusative singular, the forms are:
- Article: ein → einen
- Adjective: neu → neuen (takes -en in this context)
So:
- Nominative: ein neuer Sprachkurs (as a subject)
- Accusative: einen neuen Sprachkurs (as an object, like here)
The ending -en on neuen comes from German adjective declension. You have:
- Indefinite article ein (masculine, singular)
- Accusative case (because of besuchen)
In this pattern (masculine accusative with ein), the adjective gets -en:
- Nominative: ein neuer Sprachkurs – a new language course (as subject)
- Accusative: Ich besuche einen neuen Sprachkurs – I attend a new language course (as object)
You don’t say einen neue Sprachkurs because in this combination the adjective must take -en.
German often forms compound nouns by joining two (or more) nouns into a single word:
- Sprache (language) + Kurs (course) → Sprachkurs (language course)
Rules relevant here:
- In a compound noun, all parts are written together as one word: Sprachkurs, not Sprach Kurs.
- Nouns in German are always capitalized, so Sprachkurs starts with a capital S.
Therefore: einen neuen Sprachkurs, not einen neuen Sprach Kurs.
Weil introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause giving the reason). In German:
- Main clause: Ich besuche einen neuen Sprachkurs
- Subordinate clause (reason): weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte
German spelling rules require a comma before most subordinate clauses, so you must write:
Ich besuche einen neuen Sprachkurs, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte.
Weil is a subordinating conjunction. In German, this type of conjunction sends the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.
Word order:
Main clause (verb in 2nd position):
- Ich (1) besuche (2) einen neuen Sprachkurs (rest)
Subordinate clause with weil (conjugated verb at the end):
- weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte
- Subject: ich
- Other elements: flüssiger sprechen
- Conjugated verb (modal): möchte at the end
So the verb placement changes from 2nd position in the main clause to final position in the weil-clause.
In standard written German, this is considered incorrect word order for a weil-clause. The correct standard forms are:
- Main clause: Ich möchte flüssiger sprechen. (verb in 2nd position)
- Subordinate clause: …, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte. (conjugated verb at the end)
In colloquial spoken German, many native speakers do say things like:
- …, weil ich möchte flüssiger sprechen.
This is sometimes called “weil-V2” (weil + verb in 2nd position). However:
- It is not recommended for exams, essays, or formal writing.
- For learners, you should stick to the standard rule: in a weil-clause, put the conjugated verb at the end.
Möchte is the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) form of mögen, but in modern German it is used as a separate modal verb meaning “would like to”.
- ich möchte sprechen – I would like to speak (polite, softer)
- ich will sprechen – I want to speak (stronger, more determined, sometimes blunt)
Mag comes from mögen and means “to like” (someone/something), usually with a noun:
- Ich mag Kaffee. – I like coffee.
- Ich mag Deutsch. – I like German.
So in your sentence:
…, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte.
means “because I would like to speak more fluently”, which sounds polite and expresses a wish or goal, not a hard demand.
You have a modal verb construction:
- Modal verb: möchte (conjugated)
- Main verb: sprechen (infinitive)
In a main clause, the typical order is:
- Ich möchte flüssiger sprechen.
- möchte is conjugated and in 2nd position.
- sprechen is an infinitive at the end.
In a subordinate clause like the one introduced by weil, the conjugated verb also goes to the end. With a modal construction, the word order is:
- weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte
- sprechen (infinitive)
- möchte (conjugated modal, very last)
So:
- Only möchte is conjugated (ich möchte, du möchtest, er möchte, …).
- sprechen stays in the infinitive and sits right before the conjugated modal at the end of the subordinate clause.
Flüssig is an adjective meaning “fluent”, and German usually forms the comparative of adjectives and adverbs by adding -er:
- schnell → schneller (fast → faster / more quickly)
- laut → lauter (loud → louder / more loudly)
- flüssig → flüssiger (fluent → more fluent / more fluently)
In German, the same word form is used for both adjective and adverb, so flüssiger here means “more fluently” (adverbial use).
You could say mehr flüssig, but that sounds unnatural or wrong here. The normal and idiomatic expression is:
flüssiger sprechen – to speak more fluently.
Formally, flüssiger is the comparative form of the adjective flüssig.
Functionally, in flüssiger sprechen, it is used adverbially: it describes how you speak (more fluently), not directly describing a noun.
In German:
- Adjectives used with nouns get endings and agree with the noun:
- ein flüssiger Text – a fluent text (adjective)
- Adjectives used to describe a verb (like “speak”) keep their base or comparative form, without endings:
- flüssig sprechen, flüssiger sprechen – to speak fluently / more fluently (adverbial use)
So it’s an adjective form used in an adverbial role.
German often uses the present tense (Präsens) to talk about:
- current actions or situations
- planned or near-future actions
Here:
- Ich besuche einen neuen Sprachkurs – I am attending a new language course (now / in general, possibly already started).
- …, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte. – because I would like to speak more fluently (a current goal about the future).
You don’t need a special future tense (werde besuchen, werde sprechen) unless you really want to emphasize the futurity or planning aspect.
So the present tense here is perfectly natural and typical German.
You must repeat the subject ich in the subordinate clause:
- ✅ …, weil ich flüssiger sprechen möchte.
- ❌ …, weil flüssiger sprechen möchte.
In German, each finite clause (each clause with a conjugated verb) normally needs its own explicit subject, even if it is the same as in the previous clause.
Unlike in some languages (and unlike casual English ellipsis like “because want to…”), German does not drop the subject pronoun here. So always keep ich.