Word
Der Mann liest nicht, denn er ist müde.
Meaning
The man is not reading, because he is tired.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Der Mann liest nicht, denn er ist müde.
Why does the verb ist come right after er instead of moving to the end?
The word denn (because) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it occupies "Position 0". It acts like a bridge between two complete sentences and doesn't count as the first piece of the new sentence. Because of this, the subject er takes Position 1, and the verb ist stays firmly in its normal Position 2.
Is there a difference between denn and other words for "because"?
denn is very friendly for learners because it lets you keep the normal sentence order. Later on, you will learn another common word for "because" (weil) that pushes the verb all the way to the end of the sentence. By using denn, you get to keep the simple Subject + Verb order!
Why is nicht placed after the verb liest?
In German, when you want to negate the main action of a sentence, nicht usually goes at the end of the clause. Since the first clause here consists only of a subject and a verb, nicht drops in right at the end of that thought, directly after liest.
How do we know this means "is not reading" instead of "does not read"?
German doesn't have a separate "-ing" form for things happening right now. The present tense verb liest can mean "reads" or "is reading". You just have to use the context! Since the second half of the sentence says he is currently tired, "is not reading" makes the most sense here.