Breakdown of Ich spiele mit dem intelligenten Hund, weil er sowohl treu als auch brav ist.
ich
I
sein
to be
er
he
der Hund
the dog
spielen
to play
mit
with
weil
because (subordinating)
brav
well-behaved
treu
loyal
sowohl ... als auch
both ... and
intelligent
intelligent
Questions & Answers about Ich spiele mit dem intelligenten Hund, weil er sowohl treu als auch brav ist.
Why is the verb ist at the very end of the sentence? Does sowohl ... als auch push it there?
No, sowohl ... als auch (both ... and) simply links the two adjectives treu and brav without changing the word order. The verb ist goes to the very end because of the word weil (because), which always kicks the conjugated verb to the end of its clause.
Do we ever need a comma before the als auch part?
No. Just like with "and" in English, you do not use a comma between the items connected by sowohl ... als auch. The only comma in this sentence is there to separate the main clause from the weil clause.
Why is the adjective intelligenten ending in -en?
The preposition mit always forces the dative case. Since Hund is a masculine noun, the article changes to dem. When you have a definite article like dem in the dative case, the adjective following it must take the -en ending.
Why does it say weil er... (because he...) if we usually call an animal "it" in English?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Because dog is masculine (der Hund), you have to use the masculine pronoun er, regardless of how we would translate it into English.
Learn Ich spiele mit dem intelligenten Hund, weil er sowohl treu als auch brav ist and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free