Word
Solange das Mädchen schläft, sind wir leise.
Meaning
As long as the girl sleeps, we are quiet.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Solange das Mädchen schläft, sind wir leise.
sein
to be
wir
we
das Mädchen
the girl
schlafen
to sleep
Questions & Answers about Solange das Mädchen schläft, sind wir leise.
Why is the verb schläft at the very end of the first clause?
Solange is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which means the conjugated verb (schläft) gets pushed to the very end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with sind rather than wir?
This is due to the German V2 (verb second) rule. The entire first clause (Solange das Mädchen schläft) counts as position one in the overall sentence. To keep the main clause verb in the second position, sind must come immediately after the comma.
Why do we use the neuter article das for Mädchen when a girl is obviously female?
In German grammar, any noun ending in the diminutive suffix -chen is automatically neuter. The grammatical gender depends entirely on this ending, so it is always das Mädchen, regardless of biological gender.
Could I use solange to talk about physical length, like measuring a piece of wood?
No, the single word solange only refers to time, meaning "during the time that" or "while". If you want to compare physical length, you have to use the separate words so lang wie.