Breakdown of Der Koch würzt die Soße, während der Kellner den Salat serviert.
der Salat
the salad
der Kellner
the waiter
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
während
while
der Koch
the cook
die Soße
the sauce
würzen
to season
servieren
to serve
Questions & Answers about Der Koch würzt die Soße, während der Kellner den Salat serviert.
Why is the verb serviert at the very end of the sentence?
The word während is a subordinating conjunction here. That means it starts a dependent clause and forces the conjugated verb (serviert) to move to the very end of that clause.
I have seen während used with the genitive case before. Why isn't there a genitive noun here?
während has two jobs. It can be a preposition meaning 'during', which takes the genitive case (like während des Essens - during the meal). But in this sentence, it is a conjunction connecting two actions that happen at the same time ('while'). As a conjunction, it does not affect noun cases; it just moves the verb to the end.
Why does the second clause use den Salat instead of der Salat?
der Salat is a masculine noun. Because the salad is the direct object being served by the waiter, it needs to be in the accusative case. This changes the masculine 'the' from der to den. The waiter, der Kellner, is doing the serving, so he stays in the nominative case.
Is the comma before während mandatory?
Yes! In German, you must always use a comma to separate a main clause from a subordinate clause. Since während starts a subordinate clause, the comma right before it is strictly required.
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