Zu Hause lese ich meinen Mietvertrag noch einmal, weil ich eine Frage zur Mülltrennung habe.

At home I read my rental contract again because I have a question about waste separation.

Breakdown of Zu Hause lese ich meinen Mietvertrag noch einmal, weil ich eine Frage zur Mülltrennung habe.

• ich: I
• haben: to have
• lesen: to read
• weil: because
• mein: my
• noch einmal: again
• die Frage: the question
• der: the; (feminine, dative)
• zu Hause: at home
• eine: a; (feminine, nominative or accusative)
• der Mietvertrag: the rental contract
• zu: about/regarding
• die Mülltrennung: the waste separation

Questions & Answers about Zu Hause lese ich meinen Mietvertrag noch einmal, weil ich eine Frage zur Mülltrennung habe.

Why is Zu Hause at the beginning, and why does the sentence start with lese ich instead of ich lese?

German is often verb-second (V2) in main clauses. Whatever you put in position 1 (the Vorfeld) can be moved there for emphasis or context—here Zu Hause (At home).
Because Zu Hause takes the first slot, the finite verb must still come second, so you get Zu Hause lese ich ... (not Zu Hause ich lese ...).
If you start with the subject, you’d say Ich lese zu Hause ....

Why is zu Hause written as two words, and what does it mean exactly?

zu Hause (two words) is a fixed expression meaning at home (location/state). It’s different from:

• nach Hause = (going) home (direction)
• von zu Hause = from home

So Zu Hause lese ich ... describes where you are while reading.

Why is Hause capitalized in Zu Hause?

In zu Hause, the word Hause is historically a noun form (related to das Haus), and in modern spelling it’s commonly capitalized as part of the set phrase zu Hause / Zu Hause. At the start of a sentence, it’s capitalized anyway.

What does noch einmal mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

noch einmal means again / one more time.
Its placement is flexible, but it usually sits in the “middle field” near what it modifies:

• Zu Hause lese ich meinen Mietvertrag noch einmal. (natural)
• Zu Hause lese ich noch einmal meinen Mietvertrag. (possible, can put a bit more focus on repeating)

Why is it meinen Mietvertrag—what case is that, and why meinen?

The verb lesen takes a direct object in the accusative case.
der Mietvertrag (masculine) becomes den Mietvertrag in the accusative, and the possessive adjusts accordingly:

• nominative: mein Mietvertrag
• accusative: meinen Mietvertrag

So meinen signals masculine accusative.

What exactly is a Mietvertrag, and why is it one word?

Mietvertrag is a compound noun: Miete (rent/tenancy) + Vertrag (contract) = rental/lease agreement.
German commonly combines nouns into one word to make precise terms.

Why is there a comma before weil?

Because weil introduces a subordinate clause, German standard punctuation requires a comma before it: ..., weil ich eine Frage ... habe.
(Commas before subordinate clauses are much more consistent/mandatory in German than in English.)

Why does the verb habe come at the end in the weil part?

In a weil-clause (a subordinate clause), German usually uses verb-final word order.
So you get: weil ich eine Frage ... habe (literally: “because I a question ... have”).
That’s one of the biggest word-order differences from English.

What does zur mean, and why isn’t it written as two words?

zur is a contraction of zu der.
Here, zu is used in the sense of regarding/about, and der is dative feminine (or dative plural, but not here).
So:

• zu der Mülltrennung → zur Mülltrennung

Why is it zur Mülltrennung (dative), and not something like über die Mülltrennung?

German often uses zu + dative with nouns like Frage to express “a question about/regarding”:

• eine Frage zu(r) Mülltrennung = a question about waste sorting

You can also say:

• eine Frage über Mülltrennung (possible, slightly different feel) But eine Frage zu ... is extremely common and idiomatic.

What is Mülltrennung, and what does it refer to culturally?

Mülltrennung is waste sorting/separating trash. In Germany, tenants are often expected to separate waste into categories (e.g., paper, plastic packaging, organic waste, residual waste, glass), and rental contracts or house rules may specify how it’s done.

Could I also say weil ich eine Frage habe and stop there? What’s the function of zur Mülltrennung?

Yes, weil ich eine Frage habe is grammatically complete, but it’s vague.
zur Mülltrennung specifies what the question is about, making the reason clearer: you’re rereading the lease because you have a question specifically about waste sorting rules.