Breakdown of Das ist ein zuverlässiger Berater, dem viele Kunden vertrauen.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
viel
much / a lot
vertrauen
to trust
der Kunde
the customer
zuverlässig
reliable
der Berater
the consultant, advisor
Questions & Answers about Das ist ein zuverlässiger Berater, dem viele Kunden vertrauen.
Why do we use the dative pronoun dem here instead of the accusative den?
In English, "whom" looks like a direct object, but in German, the verb vertrauen (to trust) always requires the dative case. Because the relative pronoun points back to Berater (a masculine noun), it must take the masculine dative form dem.
How do we know the customers are trusting the consultant, and not the other way around?
By looking at the cases! The phrase viele Kunden (many customers) is in the nominative case, meaning they are the subject doing the trusting. The relative pronoun dem is in the dative case, showing that the consultant is the object receiving their trust.
Why is the verb vertrauen at the very end of the sentence?
The section after the comma is a relative clause, which adds more information about the consultant. In German, a relative clause acts as a subordinate clause, which means the conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end of that clause.
Why does the adjective zuverlässiger have an -er ending?
It is describing the masculine noun Berater in the nominative case (because it follows "Das ist"). Since the article ein doesn't clearly show the masculine gender on its own, the adjective steps up to show the gender by taking the strong -er ending.
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