Breakdown of Wir servieren dem Kunden den Wein, während er wartet.
er
he
wir
we
der Wein
the wine
warten
to wait
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Kunde
the customer
während
while
servieren
to serve
Questions & Answers about Wir servieren dem Kunden den Wein, während er wartet.
Why is the verb wartet at the very end of the sentence?
Because während (while) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a subordinate clause (während er wartet), which means the conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end of that clause.
Why does it say dem Kunden instead of dem Kunde?
Kunde is a weak noun (part of the N-declension group). This means it adds an -n to the end in all cases except the nominative singular. Since the customer is receiving the wine, it acts as the indirect object and takes the dative case, becoming dem Kunden.
Could I change the order and say Wir servieren den Wein dem Kunden?
You can, but it sounds less natural. The standard word order rule in German when you have two noun objects is that the dative object (dem Kunden) comes before the accusative object (den Wein).
Does während always mean 'while' as a measure of time?
It usually connects two actions happening at the same time, like serving and waiting in this sentence. However, just like in English, während can also be used to show a contrast between two things, meaning 'whereas'.
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