Breakdown of Er hatte das komplizierte Problem selber gelöst.
er
he
haben
to have
das Problem
the problem
lösen
to solve
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
selber
oneself
kompliziert
complicated
Questions & Answers about Er hatte das komplizierte Problem selber gelöst.
Can I use selbst instead of selber in this sentence?
Yes! Both selbst and selber mean "himself" here and are used to emphasize that he did it personally, without help. selber is slightly more informal and common in spoken German, while selbst is used more in writing.
Why does the adjective komplizierte end in -e here?
It is because of the definite article das. The noun Problem is neuter and in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the sentence. After a definite article like das, adjectives take the weak ending, which is simply -e for neuter accusative.
Could selber go anywhere else in the sentence?
Yes, but its position slightly shifts the emphasis. Placing it near the end, right before the past participle gelöst, emphasizes that the action of solving was done by him alone. If you put it right after the subject (Er selber hatte...), it would more strongly contrast him with someone else: "He himself had solved it."
What tense is hatte ... gelöst?
This is the Plusquamperfekt, or Past Perfect. It is formed with the simple past of the helping verb (hatte) and the past participle (gelöst). You use it just like in English ("had solved") to show that this action happened before another event in the past.
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