Word
Der Autor, dessen Biografie ich lese, veröffentlichte ein neues Buch.
Meaning
The author whose biography I am reading published a new book.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Autor, dessen Biografie ich lese, veröffentlichte ein neues Buch.
ich
I
ein
a, an (eine)
das Buch
the book
neu
new
Questions & Answers about Der Autor, dessen Biografie ich lese, veröffentlichte ein neues Buch.
Why do we use dessen here, and why doesn't it change to match the feminine word Biografie?
dessen is the genitive relative pronoun meaning "whose". It refers back to Der Autor, which is a masculine noun. In German, the genitive relative pronoun (dessen for masculine/neuter, deren for feminine/plural) always matches the gender of the possessor (the author), not the thing possessed (the biography).
Why does the verb lese go at the very end of the phrase between the commas?
The phrase dessen Biografie ich lese is a relative clause, adding extra information about the author. Relative clauses are dependent clauses, which means the conjugated verb (lese) gets pushed to the very end of that clause.
What tense is the verb veröffentlichte?
It is in the Präteritum (simple past) tense. The infinitive is veröffentlichen (to publish). Because the subject Der Autor is third-person singular (he), the verb takes the simple past ending -te, becoming veröffentlichte ("published").
Why is there an -es on the end of neues in ein neues Buch?