Breakdown of Seitdem wir die schlaue Katze haben, schläft sie sowohl drinnen als auch draußen.
sie
she
die Katze
the cat
haben
to have
wir
we
schlafen
to sleep
draußen
outside
seitdem
since
drinnen
inside, indoors
sowohl ... als auch
both ... and
schlau
smart
Questions & Answers about Seitdem wir die schlaue Katze haben, schläft sie sowohl drinnen als auch draußen.
How is sowohl ... als auch used in this sentence?
This is a two-part conjunction meaning "both ... and". It connects two equal parts of a sentence—in this case, the two locations, drinnen (indoors) and draußen (outdoors). You put sowohl right before the first item and als auch right before the second item. It doesn't change the verb order.
Why does the main clause start with the verb schläft instead of sie schläft?
This is a great example of the strict "verb second" rule in German. The entire first subordinate clause (Seitdem wir die schlaue Katze haben) counts as the first position in the sentence. Because the main verb must take the second position, schläft comes immediately after the comma, which pushes the subject (sie) to the spot right after the verb.
Could I just use seit instead of seitdem at the beginning?
Yes, absolutely! When connecting a subordinate clause to a main clause to mean "since [an event happened]", seit and seitdem are completely interchangeable. Just keep in mind that if you are putting it directly in front of a time phrase (like "since yesterday"), you can only use seit (seit gestern, not seitdem gestern).
Why does the adjective schlau (smart) have an -e ending here?
Katze is a feminine noun, and in this clause, it is the direct object (accusative case) of the verb haben. Because the adjective comes right after the definite article die, it only needs the "weak" adjective ending, which for feminine accusative is simply -e.
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