Morgen wollen wir die Wohnung besichtigen, die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird.

Questions & Answers about Morgen wollen wir die Wohnung besichtigen, die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird.

Why does the sentence start with Morgen?

Morgen means tomorrow, and German often puts a time expression first when it wants to set the scene.

So:

  • Morgen wollen wir ... = Tomorrow we want to ...

This first position is very common in German. When something other than the subject comes first, the conjugated verb still has to stay in second position:

  • Morgen
    • wollen
      • wir ...

That is why it is Morgen wollen wir, not Morgen wir wollen.

What does wollen wir mean here?

wollen is the infinitive to want.

Here, wollen is conjugated for wir:

  • ich will
  • du willst
  • er/sie/es will
  • wir wollen
  • ihr wollt
  • sie/Sie wollen

So wir wollen means we want.

In this sentence:

  • Morgen wollen wir die Wohnung besichtigen = Tomorrow we want to view the apartment

German often uses wollen + infinitive just like English uses want to + verb.

Why is it die Wohnung?

Because die Wohnung is the direct object of besichtigen.

The verb besichtigen takes an object: you view something.

So:

  • wir besichtigen die Wohnung = we are viewing the apartment

Wohnung is a feminine noun:

Here it is accusative, but for feminine nouns, nominative and accusative both look like die Wohnung, so there is no visible change.

What exactly does besichtigen mean?

besichtigen usually means to inspect, to look around, or to view, especially a place such as:

  • an apartment
  • a house
  • a building
  • a museum
  • a tourist site

In this sentence, die Wohnung besichtigen is a very natural phrase for viewing an apartment, for example before renting it.

It is more specific than just sehen (to see) and more formal/practical than anschauen (to look at).

Why is there a comma before die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird?

Because that part is a relative clause, and German always separates relative clauses with commas.

The main clause is:

  • Morgen wollen wir die Wohnung besichtigen

The relative clause is:

  • die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird

This relative clause gives more information about die Wohnung.

So the comma is required in German.

Why is there another die after Wohnung?

The first die is the article for Wohnung:

  • die Wohnung = the apartment

The second die is a relative pronoun:

  • die ... beschrieben wird = which/that is described ...

So they do different jobs:

  • die = the
  • die = which/that

This is very common in German, even though it can look confusing at first.

Why is the relative pronoun die?

Because it refers back to die Wohnung, which is:

Relative pronouns have to match the noun they refer to in gender and number.

So since Wohnung is feminine singular, the relative pronoun is die.

Compare:

  • der Mann, der ...
  • die Frau, die ...
  • das Kind, das ...
  • die Leute, die ...

Here:

  • die Wohnung, die ...
Why is the verb wird at the end of the clause?

Because die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird is a subordinate clause—specifically, a relative clause.

In German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb usually goes to the end.

So instead of something like English word order:

  • that is described in the ad

German gives:

  • die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird

The finite verb wird comes last.

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

Why is it in der Wohnungsanzeige and not in die Wohnungsanzeige?

Because in can take either the dative or the accusative, depending on meaning.

  • dative = location, position, in
  • accusative = movement into, into

Here, the apartment is described in the advertisement. That is a location, not movement.

So German uses the dative:

  • in der Wohnungsanzeige

Since Wohnungsanzeige is feminine:

  • nominative: die Wohnungsanzeige
  • accusative: die Wohnungsanzeige
  • dative: der Wohnungsanzeige

That is why it becomes der after in.

What is happening in beschrieben wird?

This is the present passive.

It is built with:

Here:

  • beschrieben = past participle of beschreiben (to describe)
  • wird = is

So:

  • beschrieben wird = is described

The active version would be something like:

  • Die Wohnungsanzeige beschreibt die Wohnung.
  • The ad describes the apartment.

The passive version makes the apartment the focus:

  • die Wohnung, die in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird
  • the apartment that is described in the ad
Why is beschrieben before wird?

In German, when you have a two-part verb form in a subordinate clause, the non-finite part usually comes before the conjugated verb at the end.

So in the passive:

  • beschrieben wird

This is normal German clause structure.

Compare:

In the relative clause, the conjugated verb goes to the end, so the whole verb phrase ends up there too.

Could German also use welche instead of this second die?

Yes, grammatically you could say:

  • Morgen wollen wir die Wohnung besichtigen, welche in der Wohnungsanzeige beschrieben wird.

But in normal modern German, die is much more common and natural than welche in relative clauses.

So die is the best choice here.

Is this sentence natural German?

Yes, it is grammatical and natural.

It sounds like something someone might say when talking about an apartment listing and a planned visit.

A very close variant that is also natural would be:

  • Morgen wollen wir uns die Wohnung besichtigen, which is actually not correct standard German.

With besichtigen, you normally say:

  • die Wohnung besichtigen

If you used anschauen, then you would say:

  • Morgen wollen wir uns die Wohnung anschauen.

So the original sentence is well formed and idiomatic.

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How do German cases work?
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.

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