Breakdown of Der Detektiv wusste den Namen, aber er kannte den Mörder nicht.
er
he
aber
but
nicht
not
der Name
the name
Questions & Answers about Der Detektiv wusste den Namen, aber er kannte den Mörder nicht.
Both wusste and kannte translate to "knew." Why use two different verbs in this sentence?
This is a classic trap for English speakers! In German, wissen is used for knowing a fact or a piece of information (like a name, so wusste den Namen). Kennen means to be familiar with or acquainted with a person, place, or thing (like the murderer, so kannte den Mörder).
Why is the past tense of wissen formed as wusste here?
Wissen is a "mixed verb." This means it mixes rules: it acts like an irregular verb because its stem vowel changes (from i to u), but it also acts like a regular verb by taking the standard past tense ending -te. Since der Detektiv is a third-person singular subject (he), the verb becomes wusste.
Is kannte also a mixed verb?
Yes! It comes from the infinitive kennen. Just like wissen, it changes its stem vowel in the simple past (from e to a) and adds the regular -te ending. For the subject er (he), it becomes kannte.
Why does the word for name have an "n" at the end (den Namen)?