Breakdown of Der Hund ist sowohl verspielt als auch schlau.
sein
to be
der Hund
the dog
sowohl ... als auch
both ... and
verspielt
playful
Questions & Answers about Der Hund ist sowohl verspielt als auch schlau.
How exactly does sowohl ... als auch translate here, and what type of words does it connect?
Sowohl ... als auch means "both ... and". It is a two-part conjunction that connects two equal grammatical parts. In this sentence, it connects the two adjectives verspielt (playful) and schlau (smart).
Should there be a comma before als auch?
No. Just like the basic word und, the conjunction sowohl ... als auch does not take a comma when it connects individual words or phrases, like the two adjectives in this sentence.
Does using sowohl ... als auch change the sentence's word order?
Not at all! It works exactly like und (and) when connecting adjectives. The sentence structure remains exactly the same as if you said Der Hund ist verspielt und schlau. It just adds emphasis, highlighting that the dog has both of these qualities simultaneously.
The word verspielt looks like a past-tense verb. Why is it used as an adjective here?
Verspielt is built like a past participle (a "ge-" or "ver-" verb form), but it has taken on a life of its own as a standard adjective meaning "playful". This is very common in German and similar to how English uses words like "excited" or "bored" as adjectives.