Breakdown of Obwohl der Inspektor den Mörder kannte, untersuchte er das Alibi.
er
he
kennen
to know (somebody/something)
obwohl
although
der Inspektor
the inspector
der Mörder
the murderer
untersuchen
to investigate
das Alibi
the alibi
Questions & Answers about Obwohl der Inspektor den Mörder kannte, untersuchte er das Alibi.
Why does the past tense of kennen change to kannte instead of just adding a regular ending?
Kennen is a mixed verb. This means it acts like a regular verb by adding a -te ending in the simple past, but it also acts like an irregular verb by changing its stem vowel. Here, the e in kennen changes to an a, resulting in kannte.
Could we use wusste instead of kannte in this sentence?
No, because the inspector knows a person (den Mörder). You must use kennen (past tense: kannte) when talking about being familiar with people, places, or things. Wissen (past tense: wusste) is only used for knowing facts.
Why is kannte at the very end of the first clause?
The sentence starts with obwohl (although), which is a subordinating conjunction. These types of words always push the conjugated verb to the very end of their specific clause.
Why does the second half of the sentence say untersuchte er instead of er untersuchte?
In German, the conjugated verb in a main clause must be in the second position. Because the entire first clause (Obwohl der Inspektor den Mörder kannte) takes up the first position, the verb untersuchte must come immediately after the comma to stay in position two.
Is untersuchte also a mixed verb like kannte?
No, untersuchen (to investigate) is a regular (weak) verb. It simply takes the stem untersuch- and adds the regular past tense ending -te to match the subject er. The vowel doesn't change.
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