Breakdown of Seitdem sie die Welt gesehen haben, sind sie glücklich.
sein
to be
haben
to have
sie
they
glücklich
happy
sehen
to see
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
seitdem
since
die Welt
the world
Questions & Answers about Seitdem sie die Welt gesehen haben, sind sie glücklich.
Why are there two verbs at the end of the first part, and why is haben last?
Seitdem is a subordinating conjunction, which means it kicks the conjugated verb to the very end of its clause. Because this clause uses the spoken past tense for gesehen haben (have seen), the conjugated helping verb haben goes to the absolute end, right after the past participle gesehen.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb sind?
In German, the main verb must take the second position in a sentence. Here, the entire seitdem clause counts as position one. To keep the verb in position two, the main clause has to start right away with sind. A handy trick: when a sentence starts with a subordinating word like seitdem, the verbs will often meet right across the comma!
The English translation says they 'have been' happy, but the German sentence uses sind (are). Why?
In German, if a state or action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present tense. Because they are still happy now, the sentence simply uses sind. English uses the present perfect (have been) for this, which is a very common difference between the two languages.
Could I use seit instead of seitdem in this sentence?
Yes! When connecting a new clause with its own subject and verb, seit and seitdem mean the exact same thing (since or ever since) and both send the conjugated verb to the end. Seitdem just sounds a little bit more emphatic.
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