Breakdown of Der Bauer fährt nicht mit dem Traktor, weil unsere alten Pferde schnell sind.
sein
to be
schnell
fast, quickly
nicht
not
alt
old
fahren
to drive, to travel
unser
our
mit
with
weil
because (subordinating)
der Bauer
the farmer
das Pferd
the horse
der Traktor
the tractor
Questions & Answers about Der Bauer fährt nicht mit dem Traktor, weil unsere alten Pferde schnell sind.
Why does the adjective alten end in -en instead of -e?
Because of the possessive article unsere. When an adjective comes directly before a plural noun and right after a possessive article (like unsere, meine, etc.), the adjective always takes the -en ending. Therefore, alte becomes alten.
Why is the verb sind at the very end of the sentence?
The word weil (because) is a subordinating conjunction. In German, these specific connecting words force the conjugated verb in their half of the sentence to jump to the very end.
Why doesn't the adjective schnell have an ending like alten does?
Adjectives only get endings when they are placed directly before a noun to describe it. When an adjective comes after a verb like sind (are), it acts as a predicate and stays in its basic, unchanged dictionary form.
Why is nicht placed right before mit dem Traktor?
When you want to negate a specific part of a sentence, nicht goes directly in front of the phrase it is negating. Here, it negates the prepositional phrase mit dem Traktor, emphasizing that he is specifically not using the tractor.
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