Breakdown of Anstatt dass die Eltern sich entschuldigen, zeigt das Kind schlechtes Verhalten.
das Kind
the child
schlecht
bad
die Eltern
the parents
zeigen
to show
entschuldigen
to excuse
sich
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)
anstatt dass
instead of (+ subordinate clause)
das Verhalten
the behavior
Questions & Answers about Anstatt dass die Eltern sich entschuldigen, zeigt das Kind schlechtes Verhalten.
Why do we use anstatt dass here instead of the infinitive form anstatt ... zu?
You must use anstatt dass when the two clauses in the sentence have different subjects. Here, the parents (die Eltern) are the subject of the first part, and the child (das Kind) is the subject of the second. If the same person were doing both actions, you would use the infinitive structure, for example: anstatt sich zu entschuldigen (instead of apologizing).
Why does the second part of the sentence begin with the verb zeigt?
The entire anstatt dass subordinate clause acts as the first block of information (position one) for the overall sentence. In a German main clause, the conjugated verb must always take position two. Therefore, zeigt comes immediately after the comma. This creates the common verb-comma-verb pattern you see in complex sentences.
Why is the word sich included in the first clause?
In German, the verb for to apologize is reflexive: sich entschuldigen. It literally translates to 'to excuse oneself'. Because the subject of that clause is plural (die Eltern), the matching third-person reflexive pronoun is sich.
Why does the adjective schlechtes end in -es?
The word Verhalten is a neuter noun (das Verhalten). In this sentence, it is the direct object, which puts it in the accusative case. Because there is no article (like das or ein) in front of it to indicate the gender, the adjective itself must take the strong ending -es.
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