Learn Hardcore German: Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut. - The coach says sore muscles are normal when you gradually build up your stamina.

Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.

The coach says sore muscles are normal when you gradually build up your stamina.

Breakdown of Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.

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Questions & Answers about Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.

Why does the sentence use sei instead of ist (Muskelkater sei normal)?

Sei is the subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) form of sein and is often used in reported (indirect) speech in German.

Direct speech:
Der Trainer sagt: „Muskelkater ist normal …“
(The coach says, "Muscle soreness is normal …")
Indirect (reported) speech:
Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal …
(The coach says that muscle soreness is normal …)

Using sei shows that this is what the trainer says, not necessarily the speaker’s own statement. It creates a small distance from the content and is stylistically a bit more formal.

In everyday spoken German, many people would also say:

Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater ist normal …

That’s grammatically acceptable too, but sei is the more “textbook” indirect-speech form.

Why is there no dass in Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal?

You could absolutely say:

Der Trainer sagt, dass Muskelkater normal sei.
Der Trainer sagt, dass Muskelkater normal ist.

Both are correct.

In German, after certain verbs like sagen, meinen, denken, glauben, the conjunction dass can be omitted, especially in informal or fluent style:

Er sagt, er komme später.
(= Er sagt, dass er später komme.)

So in your sentence, the comma introduces the reported clause directly:

Der Trainer sagt, Muskelkater sei normal …
= Der Trainer sagt, dass Muskelkater normal sei …

Omitting dass makes the sentence a bit more compact and is very common in spoken and written German.

Why is Muskelkater used without an article here (not der Muskelkater)?

In this sentence, Muskelkater is used in a general, generic sense: muscle soreness in general / as a phenomenon.

German often drops the article for abstract, uncountable, or generic concepts, especially in subject position:

Rauchen ist ungesund. – Smoking is unhealthy.
Geduld ist wichtig. – Patience is important.
Muskelkater ist normal. – Muscle soreness is normal.

You’d use der Muskelkater when you refer to a specific, concrete instance:

Der Muskelkater nach dem Training war schlimm.
(The muscle soreness after the workout was terrible.)

Here, we are making a general statement about muscle soreness, so no article is natural.

What does man mean in wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut, and why not du?

Man is an impersonal pronoun meaning roughly:

one, you, people, anyone in general.

So:

wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut
≈ when you build up your endurance slowly / when one builds endurance slowly.

It describes a general rule or typical situation, not one specific person.

You could say:

wenn du die Ausdauer langsam aufbaust
(when you build up your endurance slowly)

That sounds more directly addressed to you (the listener). Using man makes it sound like a general statement about training, not direct advice to one particular person.

What does Ausdauer aufbauen literally mean, and is it an idiomatic phrase?

Ausdauer = endurance / stamina
aufbauen = to build up, to develop, to build

So Ausdauer aufbauen literally means “to build up endurance” and is a very natural, idiomatic phrase in German for improving one’s stamina over time.

Other examples with aufbauen in a similar sense:

Muskeln aufbauen – build muscle
Kondition aufbauen – build (physical) fitness
Vertrauen aufbauen – build (up) trust

So die Ausdauer langsam aufbauen = to gradually build up your endurance.

Why is the verb at the end in wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut?

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

The full verb is aufbauen, which is a separable verb (ab + bauen).

In a main clause:
Man baut die Ausdauer langsam auf.
(baut = 2nd position, auf at the end)
In a subordinate clause with wenn:
… wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.
(the verb parts come together at the end: aufbaut)

So the structure is:

wenn
- subject (man) + objects/adverbs (die Ausdauer langsam) + aufbaut (at the end)

Why is wenn used and not wann or als?

These three can all be translated as “when”, but they have different uses:

wenn
- for repeated events in the past, present, or future
- for conditions (“if/when”)
als
- for a single, specific event in the past
wann
- for questions about time (direct or indirect)

In this sentence:

wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut

This is a general condition / repeated situation, not one specific past event. So wenn is correct.

Some contrasts:

Wenn ich trainiere, höre ich Musik.
(Whenever I train, I listen to music.)
Als ich gestern trainierte, hörte ich Musik.
(When I trained yesterday, I listened to music.) – single event in the past.
Wann trainierst du?
(When do you train?)

Could the sentence also be Der Trainer sagt, dass Muskelkater normal ist, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut? Is there a difference?

Yes, that version is perfectly correct:

Der Trainer sagt, dass Muskelkater normal ist, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.

Differences:

dass vs no dass
- With dass, the structure is more explicit and very common in standard German.
- Without dass, the sentence is a bit more compact and slightly more informal.
ist (indicative) vs sei (subjunctive I)
- sei marks it clearly as reported speech.
- ist is more neutral and is what many people use in speech.

All of these are grammatically fine; the original version is just a bit more formal/“textbook” because of sei and the omission of dass.

Why is the verb in the main clause sagt (present), while the reported part talks about a general fact? Could it be past tense?

The main clause uses sagt (present):

Der Trainer sagt, … – The coach says …

This means we are reporting what he is saying now (or generally says). The reported content (Muskelkater sei normal …) is also present in meaning, because it’s a general statement.

You can also put the whole thing in the past:

Der Trainer sagte, Muskelkater sei normal, …
(The coach said that muscle soreness was/is normal, …)

German often keeps sei for indirect speech even when the main verb is in the past. Using sei here avoids confusion about whether this is still generally valid or was only true at that time. So:

sagte … sei … is very standard in written German for reported statements made in the past.

Can langsam be placed somewhere else, like wenn man langsam die Ausdauer aufbaut? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

wenn man langsam die Ausdauer aufbaut
wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut

Both are grammatically correct. The difference in meaning is minimal; both mean when you build up your endurance slowly.

Subtle nuance:

langsam die Ausdauer aufbaut
– slight focus on the process being slow in general.
die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut
– slightly more neutral; common word order (object then adverb).

But in everyday communication, they’re effectively interchangeable here.

What is the overall structure of the sentence? How are the clauses connected?

The sentence has:

Main clause:
Der Trainer sagt, …
– verb 2nd position (sagt)
Reported clause (object clause) after the comma:
Muskelkater sei normal, wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.
– this is what the trainer says
– sei is the main verb of this clause
Subordinate clause introduced by wenn inside that reported clause:
wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut
– verb (aufbaut) at the end
– functions as a conditional/adverbial clause: under what condition is muscle soreness normal?

So structurally:

[Main clause] Der Trainer sagt,
- [Object clause] Muskelkater sei normal,
  - [Subordinate wenn-clause] wenn man die Ausdauer langsam aufbaut.