Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen, weil ich Hunger habe.

German often puts a time expression first when it is important in the sentence. Heute means today, and putting it first gives it a little emphasis.

German is a verb-second language in main clauses. That means the conjugated verb must come in the second position:

• Heute | mache | ich ...
• Ich | mache | heute ...

Both are correct. Starting with Heute just highlights today.

Because in a German main clause, the conjugated verb must be in second position.

So when Heute takes the first position, the verb mache must come next, and the subject ich comes after it:

• Heute mache ich ...

This is called inversion in many learner explanations, although it is really just the normal German verb-second pattern.

Machen usually means to make or to do, but in everyday German it is often used in a broad, natural way for preparing food:

• Ich mache Suppe. = I'm making soup.
• Ich mache Nudeln. = I'm making pasta.

So Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen means something like Today I’m making lentils with beans.

In some situations, koche could also work:

• Heute koche ich Linsen mit Bohnen.

That sounds a bit more specifically like I’m cooking lentils with beans.

In German, when talking about foods or ingredients in a general way, articles are often left out.

So:

• Ich esse Brot.
• Wir kochen Kartoffeln.
• Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen.

This sounds natural when you mean the ingredient or dish in general, not specific individual items.

If you added articles, the meaning would become more specific depending on context.

Linsen is the direct object of mache, so it is in the accusative.

Bohnen comes after mit, and mit always takes the dative.

However, because there are no articles here, you do not see a case ending change on the nouns themselves. In plural nouns like these, the form often looks the same across cases.

If you used articles, you could see the dative more clearly:

• mit den Bohnen

Yes. Mit always takes the dative case.

Examples:

• mit dem Freund
• mit der Suppe
• mit den Bohnen

So in this sentence, Bohnen is part of a mit-phrase and is understood as dative.

Because weil introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses are separated from the main clause by a comma.

So the sentence is divided like this:

• Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen,
• weil ich Hunger habe.

This comma is required in standard German spelling.

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

Compare:

• Main clause: Ich habe Hunger.
• Subordinate clause: ..., weil ich Hunger habe.

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

After weil, German changes the word order because the clause becomes subordinate.

So:

• Independent statement: Ich habe Hunger.
• After weil: weil ich Hunger habe

English keeps normal word order after because, but German usually moves the verb to the end.

Literally, Hunger haben means to have hunger. This is the normal and very common German expression for to be hungry.

So:

• Ich habe Hunger. = I am hungry.

German can also say:

• Ich bin hungrig.

But Ich habe Hunger is often more common and very natural in everyday speech.

Normally, no. In this expression, German usually says simply:

• Hunger haben

not:

• den Hunger haben

So Hunger here is used without an article as part of a fixed expression.

The same happens with some other nouns in common phrases, for example:

• Angst haben
• Zeit haben

Yes, as long as the main-clause verb stays in second position and the subordinate clause keeps its verb at the end.

For example:

• Ich mache heute Linsen mit Bohnen, weil ich Hunger habe.
• Linsen mit Bohnen mache ich heute, weil ich Hunger habe.

These are grammatical, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.

The most neutral versions are probably:

• Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen, weil ich Hunger habe.
• Ich mache heute Linsen mit Bohnen, weil ich Hunger habe.

Weil is a very common and natural way to say because in German, especially in everyday speech.

Another common option is denn:

• Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen, denn ich habe Hunger.

The difference is mainly grammatical:

• weil introduces a subordinate clause, so the verb goes to the end:
  weil ich Hunger habe
• denn does not change normal word order:
  denn ich habe Hunger

Both can mean because, but weil is especially common in spoken and written everyday German.

Linsen is the plural form of Linse.

In food contexts, the plural is often used when talking about lentils as an ingredient:

• Ich koche Linsen.

That is normal German usage, even though English often uses lentils in a mass-noun-like way too.

Likewise, Bohnen is plural from Bohne.

It has two parts:

1. Main clause:
   Heute mache ich Linsen mit Bohnen
2. Subordinate clause introduced by weil:
   weil ich Hunger habe

So the overall pattern is:

• Time expression + main clause, weil + subordinate clause

This is a very useful model for many German sentences:

• Heute bleibe ich zu Hause, weil ich müde bin.
• Morgen kaufe ich Brot, weil wir nichts mehr haben.