Mein Schwager hat vorgeschlagen, dass wir im März zusammen telefonieren, falls jemand krank wird.

My brother-in-law suggested that we call each other together in March in case someone gets sick.

Breakdown of Mein Schwager hat vorgeschlagen, dass wir im März zusammen telefonieren, falls jemand krank wird.

• wir: we
• haben: to have
• zusammen: together
• dass: that
• werden: to become
• mein: my
• krank: sick
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• falls: in case
• jemand: someone
• telefonieren: to talk on the phone
• der März: March
• vorschlagen: to suggest
• der Schwager: the brother-in-law

Questions & Answers about Mein Schwager hat vorgeschlagen, dass wir im März zusammen telefonieren, falls jemand krank wird.

Why is it hat vorgeschlagen instead of a simple past form?

This is the Perfekt tense, which is very common in everyday German for talking about past events.

• hat = auxiliary verb
• vorgeschlagen = past participle of vorschlagen

So the pattern is:

• Mein Schwager hat vorgeschlagen ...

You could also use the simple past:

• Mein Schwager schlug vor ...

But in normal spoken German, hat vorgeschlagen is usually more natural.

Also, vorschlagen is a separable verb:

• present: Er schlägt vor
• participle: vorgeschlagen

Why is there a comma before dass and another before falls?

In German, subordinate clauses are normally separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

So here:

• ..., dass wir im März zusammen telefonieren, ...
• ..., falls jemand krank wird.

Both dass and falls introduce subordinate clauses, so the commas are required.

This is stricter than in English, where commas are often used less consistently.

Why is telefonieren at the end of the dass clause?

Because dass introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the finite verb usually goes to the end.

Main clause:

• Mein Schwager hat vorgeschlagen

Subordinate clause:

• dass wir im März zusammen telefonieren

Here, telefonieren is the finite verb of that clause, so it goes at the end.

This is one of the most important word-order rules in German.

Why does wird also go to the end in falls jemand krank wird?

For the same reason: falls also introduces a subordinate clause, so the finite verb goes to the end.

• falls jemand krank wird

The subject is jemand, and the finite verb is wird, so wird must come last.

German does this with many subordinating conjunctions, such as:

• dass
• weil
• wenn
• falls
• obwohl

What is the difference between falls and wenn here?

Both can often be translated as if, but they are not always identical.

• falls is clearly conditional: in the event that
• wenn can also mean if, but it can additionally mean when/whenever in other contexts

So in this sentence, falls makes the meaning strongly conditional:

• if someone becomes ill / if someone gets sick

It emphasizes a possible situation rather than a repeated or general one.

Why is it im März?

im is a contraction of in dem.

• in dem März → im März

With months, German commonly uses in + dative to mean in a particular month.

So:

• im März = in March

This is the normal way to express that time phrase.

What does zusammen do here?

zusammen means together.

So zusammen telefonieren means something like:

• talk on the phone together
• have a phone call together

It shows that the action is shared. Without zusammen, the sentence would still be grammatical, but zusammen makes the idea of doing it jointly more explicit.

A similar word you may also see is miteinander:

• zusammen telefonieren
• miteinander telefonieren

Both are possible, though zusammen is very natural here.

Why is it just telefonieren and not something like uns telefonieren?

Because telefonieren is normally used without a direct object in this kind of sentence.

German says:

• Wir telefonieren.
• Wir telefonieren zusammen.

You do not usually say uns telefonieren.

If you want to make the relationship explicit, German often uses:

• miteinander telefonieren = talk to each other on the phone
• mit jemandem telefonieren = talk with someone on the phone

So this sentence is perfectly normal as it stands.

Why is it jemand krank wird and not jemanden or some other form?

Because jemand is the subject of the clause:

• jemand = someone
• wird = becomes

So it must be in the nominative form.

You would use another case only if the word had a different role in the sentence. Here, jemand is the person who may become ill, so nominative is correct.

Also notice that jemand is grammatically singular, which is why the verb is singular:

• jemand wird

not

• jemand werden

Why does the sentence use krank wird instead of krank ist?

krank werden means to become ill / to get sick, while krank sein means to be ill / to be sick.

So:

• falls jemand krank wird = if someone gets sick
• falls jemand krank ist = if someone is sick

The version with wird focuses more on the change of state, the moment or possibility of becoming ill. The version with ist would focus on the state of already being ill.

Both can make sense, but they are not exactly the same.

Why use a dass clause after vorgeschlagen? Could German also use zu telefonieren?

Yes, German could also use an infinitive construction here:

• Mein Schwager hat vorgeschlagen, im März zusammen zu telefonieren, falls jemand krank wird.

That is also natural.

The version with dass is used when the speaker wants to state the subject explicitly:

• dass wir ... telefonieren

This makes wir completely clear.

So the difference is mainly one of structure and explicitness:

• dass wir ... telefonieren = full subordinate clause with stated subject
• ... zu telefonieren = infinitive construction, often a bit more compact

Both are possible, but the dass version is especially clear.