Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs.

She now speaks fluently in the course.

Breakdown of Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs.

• jetzt: now
• sie: she
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• sprechen: to speak
• der Kurs: the course
• flüssig: fluently

Questions & Answers about Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs.

Why is it spricht and not sprechen, spreche, or sprecht?

Because the subject is sie meaning she (3rd person singular), the verb sprechen must be conjugated accordingly:

• ich spreche – I speak
• du sprichst – you speak (singular, informal)
• er/sie/es spricht – he/she/it speaks
• wir sprechen – we speak
• ihr sprecht – you speak (plural, informal)
• sie/Sie sprechen – they / you (formal) speak

So with sie = she, the correct form is spricht.

Why is the word order Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs? Could I say Sie spricht flüssig jetzt im Kurs or Sie spricht im Kurs jetzt flüssig?

German has flexible word order, but there are preferences. A common guideline for adverbs is:

Time – Manner – Place

In this sentence:

• jetzt = time
• flüssig = manner (how she speaks)
• im Kurs = place

So Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs follows that pattern and sounds very natural.

Other versions:

• Sie spricht im Kurs jetzt flüssig. – possible; emphasizes im Kurs a bit more.
• Sie spricht flüssig jetzt im Kurs. – grammatically possible but sounds less natural; most natives would avoid this.

The original word order is the most neutral and idiomatic.

Can jetzt go at the beginning, like Jetzt spricht sie flüssig im Kurs?

Yes. In fact, this is very natural:

• Jetzt spricht sie flüssig im Kurs.

German main clauses usually keep the finite verb in 2nd position. If you move jetzt to the front (position 1), the subject sie moves after the verb:

1. Jetzt
2. spricht
3. sie
4. flüssig
5. im Kurs

This puts a bit of emphasis on now (“Now she speaks fluently in the course”), but it is fully correct.

Does jetzt here mean “right now at this moment” or “nowadays / by now”?

jetzt can mean both, depending on context:

1. Right now (at this moment):
   If you are talking about what is happening during today’s class:

   • She is now speaking fluently in the class (right now).

2. By now / nowadays / from now on:
   If you are comparing with the past (she used to struggle, but not anymore):

   • Now she speaks fluently in the course (these days).

The German sentence itself allows both readings; context decides which one is meant.

Why is flüssig used? Could I also say fließend, and is there a difference?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

• flüssig sprechen – very common; literally “to speak fluidly / fluently.”
• fließend sprechen – also correct; literally “to speak flowing / fluently.”

In everyday speech, flüssig is a bit more common in this context. fließend is also fine and often appears in phrases like:

• Sie spricht fließend Deutsch. – She speaks German fluently.

In your sentence, Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs. sounds completely natural. Sie spricht jetzt fließend im Kurs. is understandable but slightly less idiomatic; usually you’d specify the language: fließend Deutsch.

Is flüssig an adjective or an adverb here? Why doesn’t it have an ending like flüssige?

Here, flüssig functions as an adverb, describing how she speaks.

In German:

• Adjectives before nouns take endings:

  • ein flüssiger Text – a fluent text
  • eine flüssige Rede – a fluent speech

• The same word used to describe a verb (how you do something) is used in its basic form, without an ending:

  • Sie spricht flüssig. – She speaks fluently.
  • Er liest laut. – He reads loudly.

So flüssig has no ending here because it belongs to the verb spricht, not to a noun.

Why is it im Kurs and not in dem Kurs?

im is simply the contracted form of in dem:

• in
  • dem (dative singular, masculine/neuter) → im

Since Kurs is masculine (der Kurs), and in here expresses location (in the course), you need the dative case:

• in dem Kurs → normally contracted to im Kurs

Saying in dem Kurs is grammatically correct but sounds unusually heavy or emphasized in everyday speech. im Kurs is the normal form.

Why do we use in (im Kurs) and not another preposition like auf?

For classes and courses, German typically uses in to express participation / being inside the class setting:

• im Kurs – in the course
• im Unterricht – in the lesson
• in der Schule – in (at) school

auf is used in other contexts (e.g. auf der Party, auf dem Markt, auf der Arbeit in some regions), but auf dem Kurs is not idiomatic. For a language or university course, you almost always say im Kurs.

Which case is Kurs in, and why?

Kurs is in the dative case:

• Preposition: in
• Meaning here: location (where she speaks fluently)
• Rule: in
  • location → dative
• Noun: der Kurs → dative singular: dem Kurs → contracted: im Kurs

So im Kurs = in dem Kurs (dative), “in the course”.

Could Sie here also mean you (formal) or they? How do I know it means she?

In isolation, sie/Sie is ambiguous in German:

• sie (lowercase)

  • she (3rd person singular)
  • they (3rd person plural)

• Sie (capitalized)

  • you (formal, singular or plural)

How to interpret it:

1. Capitalization:

   • At the start of a sentence, everything is capitalized, so Sie could be she, they, or formal you based on form and context.
   • In the middle of a sentence, sie (she/they) is lowercase, Sie (formal you) is uppercase.

2. Verb form:

   • sie/Sie sprechen – they / you (formal) speak
   • sie spricht – she speaks (only singular “she”)

Here we have spricht (3rd person singular), so it can only be she. Therefore:

• Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs. = She now speaks fluently in the course.

English uses “is speaking” for “now”: why is there no form like “is speaking” in German? Is spricht present simple or continuous?

German does not have a separate continuous tense like English is speaking.

The Präsens (present tense) in German covers both:

• Sie spricht jetzt.
  
  • She speaks now.
  • She is speaking now.

Context decides whether it means a general state or an action happening right now.

So Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs. can correspond to:

• She is now speaking fluently in the class. (right now)
• Now she speaks fluently in the class. (generally/by now)

Both are expressed with the same German form spricht.

Can I say Sie redet jetzt flüssig im Kurs instead of Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs?

Yes, but there is a nuance:

• sprechen – to speak (neutral, slightly more general/formal)
• reden – to talk (more informal, focus on talking / chatting)

In a course context, sprechen is more neutral and typical, especially if you mean “speak a language”:

• Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs. – More natural if you mean her language ability.

Sie redet jetzt flüssig im Kurs. is understandable and grammatically correct, but sounds more like “She’s talking fluently in class (e.g. participating actively in conversation).”

Could I say im Unterricht, in der Klasse, or something else instead of im Kurs? Are there differences?

Yes, there are alternatives, with slightly different nuances:

• im Kurs – in the course

  • Focus on the course as an organized program (e.g. a language course).

• im Unterricht – in the lesson / during class

  • Focus on the teaching situation itself, during the teaching time.

• in der Klasse – in the class (as a group of students or room)

  • More often used about school classes (e.g. in der 5. Klasse).

So:

• Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Kurs. – She now speaks fluently in this course (as a participant of this course).
• Sie spricht jetzt flüssig im Unterricht. – She now speaks fluently during lessons.

Both are good; im Kurs sounds more like a specific course she is enrolled in.