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Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.

Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.
If my sister comes to visit on Sunday, we drink tea together.
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Questions & Answers about Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.

Why does kommt go at the end of Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt?

Because wenn introduces a subordinate clause. In German, the conjugated verb usually goes to the end of a subordinate clause.

So:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt
  • literally: When my sister on Sunday to visit comes

This is completely normal German word order after conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl, and others.

Why does the second clause start with trinken instead of wir?

Because the whole wenn-clause comes first, and German still follows the verb-second rule in the main clause.

The structure is:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, = first position
  • then the finite verb of the main clause must come next: trinken
  • then the subject: wir

So:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.

If you started with the main clause instead, you would say:

  • Wir trinken zusammen Tee, wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt.

Then wir can come first, because the main clause begins the sentence.

Does wenn mean if or when here?

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, wenn is most naturally understood as when or whenever:

  • When my sister comes to visit on Sunday, we drink tea together.

A useful guideline:

  • wenn = if / when / whenever in many everyday contexts
  • als = when for a single event in the past

For example:

  • Wenn sie kommt, trinken wir Tee. = When/If she comes, we drink tea.
  • Als sie kam, tranken wir Tee. = When she came, we drank tea.
Why is it am Sonntag?

Am Sonntag means on Sunday.

It comes from:

  • an dem Sonntag → am Sonntag

German commonly uses an with days of the week:

  • am Montag = on Monday
  • am Freitag = on Friday
  • am Sonntag = on Sunday

So this is the standard way to say on Sunday.

What does zu Besuch kommen mean exactly?

Zu Besuch kommen is a fixed expression meaning:

  • to come for a visit
  • to come visit
  • to come over

So:

  • Meine Schwester kommt zu Besuch. = My sister is coming to visit.

This is different from the verb besuchen, which means to visit someone/something directly:

  • Ich besuche meine Schwester. = I visit my sister.

But here the sister is the one coming, so zu Besuch kommen is a very natural expression.

Why is zu Besuch in the middle of the clause?

Because zu Besuch acts like an adverbial expression describing the purpose or nature of the visit.

German often places this kind of information before the verb at the end of a subordinate clause:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt

You can think of zu Besuch kommen as a unit in meaning, even though the words are separated by normal German word-order rules.

Why is the sentence in the present tense, even though it may refer to the future?

German very often uses the present tense for future meaning when the time is already clear from context.

Here, am Sonntag makes the future time obvious, so German does not need a separate future form.

So:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.

can refer to:

  • a planned future event, or
  • a usual/habitual situation

German does this a lot:

  • Morgen gehe ich ins Kino. = Tomorrow I’m going to the cinema.
  • Nächste Woche kommt er wieder. = He’s coming back next week.
What does zusammen add to the sentence?

Zusammen means together.

It emphasizes that we drink tea together, not just that tea is being drunk.

Without it:

  • ..., trinken wir Tee. = ..., we drink tea.

With it:

  • ..., trinken wir zusammen Tee. = ..., we drink tea together.

So zusammen adds a sense of shared activity.

Why is there no article before Tee?

Because Tee is being used as a mass noun in a general sense, similar to English.

German often leaves out the article with food and drink after verbs like essen, trinken, kaufen, when speaking generally:

  • Ich trinke Tee. = I drink tea.
  • Wir essen Brot. = We eat bread.

You could use an article in other contexts, but here no article is the normal choice.

Is the comma necessary?

Yes. In German, a comma is normally required before or after a subordinate clause, depending on word order.

Here the subordinate clause comes first:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.

That comma is not optional in standard German.

Can I also say Wir trinken zusammen Tee, wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt?

Yes, absolutely.

That version is also correct:

  • Wir trinken zusammen Tee, wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt.

The difference is mostly one of emphasis and sentence flow:

  • starting with Wenn... puts the condition/time frame first
  • starting with Wir trinken... puts the main action first

Both are natural.

Could I say Am Sonntag somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes. German word order is flexible, especially with time expressions.

For example, these are possible:

  • Wenn meine Schwester am Sonntag zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir zusammen Tee.
  • Wenn meine Schwester zu Besuch kommt, trinken wir am Sonntag zusammen Tee.

But the meaning may shift slightly depending on what you want to emphasize.

In the original sentence, am Sonntag clearly belongs with kommt: the sister comes on Sunday.

Is meine Schwester in the nominative case?

Yes. Meine Schwester is the subject of the subordinate clause, so it is in the nominative case.

You can tell from the form:

  • meine Schwester = nominative
  • meiner Schwester would often be dative or genitive, depending on context

In this sentence:

  • meine Schwester is the one doing the action of kommt

So nominative is correct.