Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage, falls ich mein Passwort vergesse.

Below the password field there is a security question in case I forget my password.

Breakdown of Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage, falls ich mein Passwort vergesse.

• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• ich: I
• stehen: to stand
• mein: my
• unter: under
• vergessen: to forget
• falls: in case
• das Passwort: the password
• eine: a; (feminine, nominative or accusative)
• das Passwortfeld: the password field
• die Sicherheitsfrage: the security question

Questions & Answers about Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage, falls ich mein Passwort vergesse.

Why does the sentence use steht instead of ist to say that the security question is under the password field?

In German, stehen (to stand) is very often used for things that are written, printed, or displayed somewhere.

• Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage.
  = Under the password field there is / it says a security question.

This sounds completely natural to Germans, especially for text on a screen or paper.

You could say:

• Unter dem Passwortfeld ist eine Sicherheitsfrage.

This is grammatically correct, but it sounds less idiomatic for UI text or written labels. Stehen emphasizes “this text is displayed / written there,” not just “it exists there.”

Why is it unter dem Passwortfeld and not unter das Passwortfeld?

Unter is a “two-way preposition” in German. It can take:

• Dative for a static location: where something is
• Accusative for a direction/movement: to where something goes

Here, it’s a static location:

• Unter dem Passwortfeld steht …
  → The question is located under the password field.
  → No movement → Dative → dem Passwortfeld

If it involved movement, you’d use accusative:

• Ich setze eine Sicherheitsfrage unter das Passwortfeld.
  I’m placing a security question under the password field.
  → Movement → unter das Passwortfeld (accusative)

Why is it dem Passwortfeld and not dem Passwortfeld with two words (Passwort Feld)?

German loves compound nouns: several nouns get glued together into one new noun.

• Passwort (password) + Feld (field)
  → Passwortfeld (password field)

Rules here:

• It becomes one word: Passwortfeld
• The last part determines the gender:
  Feld is neuter → das Feld → das Passwortfeld
• In the dative singular, das changes to dem:
  → unter dem Passwortfeld

Writing Passwort Feld would be incorrect in standard German.

What case is Passwortfeld in, and why is the article dem?

Case: dative singular
Reason: location with unter (see the two-way preposition explanation above).

Declension of a regular neuter noun like das Passwortfeld:

• Nominative: das Passwortfeld
• Accusative: das Passwortfeld
• Dative: dem Passwortfeld
• Genitive: des Passwortfeldes (or Passwortfelds)

Since unter + location → dative, we get unter dem Passwortfeld.

Why does the word order start with Unter dem Passwortfeld and then steht? Could I say Eine Sicherheitsfrage steht unter dem Passwortfeld instead?

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule:

• The conjugated verb must be in second position (second element, not necessarily the second word).

Both versions respect that rule:

1. Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage.

   • Element 1: Unter dem Passwortfeld (a prepositional phrase)
   • Element 2: steht (conjugated verb)
   • Rest: eine Sicherheitsfrage

2. Eine Sicherheitsfrage steht unter dem Passwortfeld.

   • Element 1: Eine Sicherheitsfrage
   • Element 2: steht
   • Rest: unter dem Passwortfeld

Both are correct. The difference is emphasis:

• Starting with Unter dem Passwortfeld emphasizes the location.
• Starting with Eine Sicherheitsfrage emphasizes the existence of the question.

Why is there a comma before falls?

Falls introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause), and in German subordinate clauses are separated by a comma.

• Main clause: Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage
• Subordinate clause: falls ich mein Passwort vergesse

Together:

Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage, falls ich mein Passwort vergesse.

Other common subordinating conjunctions you’ll always see after a comma: dass, weil, obwohl, wenn, als, bevor, nachdem, etc.

Why is the verb vergesse at the very end of the clause falls ich mein Passwort vergesse?

In German subordinate clauses with a subordinating conjunction (like falls, weil, dass, wenn) have the conjugated verb at the end:

• Main clause: Ich vergesse mein Passwort. (verb in 2nd position)
• Subordinate clause: …, falls ich mein Passwort vergesse. (verb at the end)

Pattern:

• falls
  • subject
    • objects/etc.
      • conjugated verb

So:

• falls (conjunction)
• ich (subject)
• mein Passwort (object)
• vergesse (verb, sent to the end)

Why is the tense vergesse (present) even though this is about a possible future situation?

German uses the present tense very often to talk about the future, especially:

• with time expressions, or
• after conjunctions like wenn, falls, bevor, nachdem, etc.

So:

• falls ich mein Passwort vergesse
  literally: if I forget my password
  naturally in English: if I (ever) forget my password / if I forget my password in the future

Using werde vergessen here (falls ich mein Passwort vergessen werde) would sound unnatural. The simple present is the normal choice.

What is the difference between falls and wenn here? Could I say wenn ich mein Passwort vergesse?

Yes, you could say:

• Unter dem Passwortfeld steht eine Sicherheitsfrage, wenn ich mein Passwort vergesse.

Both are grammatically correct, but there is a nuance:

• falls ≈ in case (that), if by chance
  → sounds a bit more conditional or hypothetical.
• wenn ≈ if / whenever
  → more neutral, can also mean “whenever this happens”.

In your sentence:

• falls ich mein Passwort vergesse
  emphasizes the possibility that this might happen at some point.

Why is it mein Passwort and not das Passwort?

Both are grammatically possible, but the meanings differ slightly:

• falls ich mein Passwort vergesse
  → explicitly my password
  → sounds natural, because it’s about your own login.

• falls ich das Passwort vergesse
  → “the password” (some specific password you’ve been told)
  → could be used, but in login contexts mein Passwort is more idiomatic.

Also note the case:

• Passwort is the direct object of vergesse → accusative case.
• mein is a possessive determiner in front of a neuter noun in accusative singular → it stays mein (no extra ending).

What gender does Sicherheitsfrage have, and why is the article eine?

Sicherheitsfrage is feminine:

• die Frage (feminine)
• Sicherheit (feminine)
• die Sicherheitsfrage (feminine)

In the sentence, it’s in the nominative singular (it’s the subject):

• eine Sicherheitsfrage
  → indefinite article, nominative, feminine.

So we use eine, not ein or einen:

• Nominative feminine: eine Sicherheitsfrage
• Accusative feminine: eine Sicherheitsfrage
• Dative feminine: einer Sicherheitsfrage
• Genitive feminine: einer Sicherheitsfrage

Could I change the word order in the subordinate clause, like falls ich vergesse mein Passwort?

No. That word order is not correct in German.

In a subordinate clause with falls, the conjugated verb must go to the very end:

• ✅ falls ich mein Passwort vergesse
• ❌ falls ich vergesse mein Passwort

The typical pattern is:

[conjunction] + [subject] + [objects/complements] + [conjugated verb]

So the correct order is exactly as in the original: falls ich mein Passwort vergesse.