When dealing with touring celebrities and their extravagant backstage requests, a standard sentence sometimes isn't dramatic enough. To place heavy emphasis on exactly what someone wants, needs, or dislikes, German uses pseudo-cleft sentences (Pseudospaltsätze). This structure perfectly mirrors the English "What [someone wants] is [the thing]."
The "Was ... ist ..." Structure
To build this emphatic structure, you split the sentence into two parts:
- The "Was" clause: Begin with was (what). This acts as a subordinate clause, meaning its conjugated verb must go to the very end.
- The main clause: The entire was-clause acts as one giant block occupying Position 1 of the sentence. Therefore, the main clause immediately follows the comma and starts with the verb ist (is) in Position 2. The emphasized noun or phrase then follows.
| What the diva really wants is a larger dressing room. | Was die Diva wirklich will, ist eine größere Garderobe. |
| What the star expects is complete perfection before the concert. | Was der Star erwartet, ist völlige Perfektion vor dem Konzert. |
Emphasizing Needs and Desires
You can use this structure with verbs like wollen (to want), verlangen (to demand), or erwarten (to expect). Notice how the main verb ist remains singular even if the star demands multiple things.
| What she demands is more privacy and a new bodyguard. | Was sie verlangt, ist mehr Privatsphäre und ein neuer Leibwächter. |
Expressing Opinions and Feelings
You aren't limited to what people want. You can also emphasize how they feel about something by using adjectives and expressions like wichtig sein (to be important) or skurril finden (to find bizarre) in the was-clause.
| What is important to me is an exact room temperature. | Was mir wichtig ist, ist eine exakte Raumtemperatur. |
| What I find bizarre is this special request to drink expensive mineral water. | Was ich skurril finde, ist dieser Sonderwunsch, teures Mineralwasser zu trinken. |
Finally, you can use this exact same word order to highlight the source of a celebrity's annoyance or their ultimate requirement after a show. The verb in the was-clause lands right before the comma, followed immediately by ist.
| What bothers him is the bright lighting in the hallway. | Was ihn stört, ist die helle Beleuchtung im Flur. |
| What the band needs is a good masseur after the concert. | Was die Band braucht, ist ein guter Masseur nach dem Konzert. |