Word
Sind sie verheiratet, seitdem sie in Deutschland wohnen?
Meaning
Have they been married since they started living in Germany?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Sind sie verheiratet, seitdem sie in Deutschland wohnen?
sein
to be
wohnen
to live
in
in
Deutschland
Germany
Questions & Answers about Sind sie verheiratet, seitdem sie in Deutschland wohnen?
Why is the verb wohnen at the very end of the sentence?
The word seitdem (since) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause and kicks the conjugated verb (wohnen) all the way to the end of that clause.
The English translation says "Have they been married", but the German uses the present tense Sind sie verheiratet. Why?
In German, when a situation started in the past and is still ongoing, you always use the present tense. English uses the present perfect ("have been"). Because the couple is still married today, German literally asks "Are they married since...".
There is no German word for "started" in this sentence, so how do we get "since they started living"?
The phrase seitdem sie in Deutschland wohnen literally translates to "since they live in Germany". Just like with being married, the word seitdem already tells us that the action began in the past and continues today, so German just uses the present tense verb wohnen.
How do we know both instances of sie mean "they" instead of "she" or formal "you"?
You can tell by looking at the verbs! Both sind and wohnen are plural forms. If the sentence were about "she", the verbs would be singular (Ist sie... and ... wohnt). If it were the formal "you", the pronoun would have a capital letter (Sie).