Breakdown of Ich erkläre die Anweisung deutlich, damit du die Notiz verstehst.
ich
I
du
you (informal singular)
verstehen
to understand
erklären
to explain
damit
so that
deutlich
clearly
die Anweisung
the instruction
die Notiz
the note
Questions & Answers about Ich erkläre die Anweisung deutlich, damit du die Notiz verstehst.
Why is the verb verstehst at the very end of the sentence?
Because damit (so that) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which always pushes the conjugated verb (verstehst) to the very end.
Could I use um ... zu (in order to) instead of damit to express purpose here?
No, because the two clauses have different subjects. The first part is about what I do (ich erkläre), and the second part is about what you do (du ... verstehst). When the subjects are different, you must use damit. You can only use um ... zu when the person doing the action is exactly the same in both parts of the sentence.
How do I know the gender of the word Anweisung?
You can tell by the ending! In German, almost any noun that ends in the suffix -ung is feminine. That is a great rule to remember, which is why it takes the article die.
Are die Anweisung and die Notiz in the nominative or accusative case here?
They are both in the accusative case, because they are the direct objects receiving the action (they are the things being explained and understood). Since both nouns are feminine, their article die looks exactly the same as it does in the nominative (subject) case.
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