Das war umsonst.

That was in vain.

Breakdown of Das war umsonst.

• sein: to be
• das: that
• umsonst: for free or in vain

Questions & Answers about Das war umsonst.

What does das refer to in Das war umsonst?

Das refers to some specific thing, action, effort, or situation that has already been mentioned or is obvious from context.

For example, it could mean:

• that trip
• that attempt
• all that work
• what you just did

So das works a lot like English that in That was for nothing.

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Why is the verb war in the second position?

German main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule.

In Das war umsonst:

• Das is in the first position
• war is the finite verb, so it must come second
• umsonst comes after that

So the basic structure is:

Das + war + umsonst

This is very normal German word order.

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Why is it war and not ist?