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Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.

Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.
Because a guest snores loudly, I wear earplugs at night.
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Questions & Answers about Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.

Why does the verb schnarcht go to the end in weil ein Gast laut schnarcht?

In German, weil is a subordinating conjunction. Subordinating conjunctions (like weil, dass, wenn, obwohl, etc.) send the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.

So:

  • Ein Gast schnarcht laut. – normal main clause (verb in 2nd position)
  • Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, … – subordinate clause (verb at the end)

Structure of the weil‑clause here:

  • Weil (conjunction)
  • ein Gast (subject)
  • laut (adverb)
  • schnarcht (finite verb, at the end)
Why is it trage ich and not ich trage after the comma?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the clause.

The whole first part Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht counts as one unit (one “field”) and sits in the first position of the whole sentence. After the comma comes the main clause:

  • Position 1 (already used by the weil-clause as a whole)
  • Position 2: trage (verb)
  • Then: ich nachts Ohrstöpsel (subject + other elements)

So we get:

  • Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.

If you start with the subject, then the subject is position 1 and the verb is 2:

  • Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel, weil ein Gast laut schnarcht.
Can I also say Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel, weil ein Gast laut schnarcht?

Yes, absolutely. Both are correct:

  1. Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.
  2. Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel, weil ein Gast laut schnarcht.

Differences:

  • Version 1 puts more emphasis on the reason (the snoring) first.
  • Version 2 starts with the result (wearing earplugs) and then adds the reason.

In everyday speech, version 2 (main clause first, weil‑clause second) is very common.

Why is it ein Gast and not einen Gast in the sentence?

Ein Gast is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the subordinate clause.

The structure is:

  • Wer schnarcht laut? – ein Gast → subject → nominative

If you wrote einen Gast, that would be the accusative case, which is typically used for a direct object. That would mean something like “Because someone snores a guest loudly”, which makes no sense.

So:

  • ✅ Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht … (A guest snores loudly.)
  • ❌ Weil einen Gast laut schnarcht … (ungrammatical / wrong case)
Why is it laut and not laute or lauten?

Here laut is an adverb, modifying the verb schnarcht (snores loudly).

In German:

  • Adjectives before nouns are declined:
    • ein lauter Gast – a loud guest
    • der laute Gast – the loud guest
  • Adverbs (modifying verbs, adjectives, or whole sentences) are not declined:
    • Der Gast schnarcht laut. – The guest snores loudly.

So:

  • ✅ Ein Gast schnarcht laut. (adverb → no ending)
  • ✅ ein lauter Gast (adjective before a noun → with ending)
  • ❌ Ein Gast schnarcht laute. (wrong here)
Can I say Weil ein Gast schnarcht laut instead of laut schnarcht?

No. In a subordinate clause, the finite verb must come last. So schnarcht has to be the final element of the clause.

Correct word order:

  • Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, …

Wrong:

  • ❌ Weil ein Gast schnarcht laut, …

In a main clause you could say Ein Gast schnarcht laut, because there the verb only has to be in 2nd position, not at the end.

Why is nachts written with a lowercase n and not Nachts?

Nachts here is an adverb of time meaning at night. Adverbs in German are written lowercase.

You only capitalize Nacht when it is a noun:

  • die Nacht – the night
  • in der Nacht – in the night

But in nachts (like morgens, abends), the word is adverbial and therefore:

  • ✅ nachts – at night (adverb → lowercase)
  • ✅ In der Nacht trage ich Ohrstöpsel. (Nacht is a noun → uppercase)
  • ❌ Ich trage Nachts Ohrstöpsel. (wrong capitalization)
What is the difference between nachts and in der Nacht?

Both can mean “at night”, but there are slight nuances:

  • nachts

    • Short, neutral, very common in everyday speech
    • Often used for habits or repeated actions:
      • Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel. – I wear earplugs at night (regularly).

  • in der Nacht

    • A bit more specific or a bit more formal
    • Can refer to a particular night or emphasize the period:
      • In der Nacht habe ich schlecht geschlafen. – I slept badly (that) night.

In most contexts here, nachts is the most natural choice for a general habit.

Why is trage in the simple present and not future, like werde tragen?

German uses the present tense much more often than English, even for:

  • General truths
  • Habits
  • Scheduled future actions
  • Very near future

Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel. can mean:

  • I wear earplugs at night (habit, generally)
  • I will (be) wearing earplugs at night (if the context is clear)

The future tense (ich werde tragen) is usually only used when you really need to stress the futurity or make a prediction. Here, the present tense is normal and idiomatic.

Why is Ohrstöpsel plural, and why is there no article like die or meine?

Ohrstöpsel is:

  • Singular: der Ohrstöpsel – one earplug
  • Plural: die Ohrstöpsel – earplugs

In your sentence, Ohrstöpsel is plural, because you usually wear two.

There is no article because in German you can omit the article when talking about:

  • Indefinite plural count nouns in a general sense:
    • Ich trage Ohrstöpsel. – I wear earplugs. (some, in general)
    • Ich kaufe Äpfel. – I’m buying apples.

You could add an article or determiner for more specificity:

  • Ich trage die Ohrstöpsel. – those specific earplugs (already known).
  • Ich trage meine Ohrstöpsel. – my earplugs.
What is the difference between weil and denn? Could I use denn here?

Both weil and denn can mean “because”, but they behave differently:

  1. weil

    • Is a subordinating conjunction
    • Sends the conjugated verb to the end of its clause
    • Can appear before or after the main clause
      • Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel, weil ein Gast laut schnarcht.
      • Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.

  2. denn

    • Is a coordinating conjunction
    • Does not change word order (verb still in 2nd position)
    • Typically used between two main clauses, and not fronted like weil:
      • Ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel, denn ein Gast schnarcht laut.
    • Starting a sentence with Denn ein Gast schnarcht laut, … is possible but stylistically more limited and feels unusual in many contexts.

So in your exact word order with the reason first, weil is the natural choice:

  • ✅ Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.
  • ❌ Denn ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel. (unusual/awkward)
Can I drop the subject ich, since the verb ending -e already shows the person?

No. In standard German, you must include the subject pronoun. German is not a “pro‑drop” language like Spanish or Italian.

So:

  • ✅ … trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.
  • ❌ … trage nachts Ohrstöpsel.

Without ich, the sentence is ungrammatical in standard German and sounds incomplete.

Is it okay to start a sentence with Weil, or is that considered wrong?

It is grammatically correct to start a sentence with Weil, as in:

  • Weil ein Gast laut schnarcht, trage ich nachts Ohrstöpsel.

What is considered non‑standard in formal written German is when weil starts a sentence but is followed by main-clause word order, for example:

  • ❌ Weil ein Gast schnarcht laut, ich trage nachts Ohrstöpsel. (two problems: verb not at the end in the weil‑clause, and no verb in the second clause)

But starting with a correctly formed weil‑clause, followed by a main clause (with a comma), is completely standard and correct.