Breakdown of Der Schriftsteller hat mehrere spannende Titel gezeigt.
haben
to have
zeigen
to show
mehrere
several
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
spannend
exciting, thrilling
der Titel
the title
der Schriftsteller
the writer
Questions & Answers about Der Schriftsteller hat mehrere spannende Titel gezeigt.
Why does spannende end in -e instead of -en after mehrere?
Words indicating an indefinite amount like mehrere, viele, and einige do not act like standard articles. Instead, they act just like normal adjectives. Because there is no article before them to show the case, both mehrere and spannende take the strong ending -e for the accusative plural.
What would happen to the ending of spannende if we used alle (all) instead of mehrere (several)?
If you used alle, it would act like a definite article (a der-word). It takes the primary case ending, which forces the adjective following it to take the weak ending -en. So, the phrase would change to alle spannenden Titel.
Is the word Schriftsteller related to the verb for writing?
Yes! It is a compound noun made from Schrift (writing or script) and Steller (creator or maker, related to the verb stellen). So a Schriftsteller is literally a creator of writings, which is a common way to say author or writer.
Why is gezeigt at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence is in the conversational past tense (Perfekt). In German, the helping verb hat takes the second position in the sentence, while the past participle gezeigt is pushed to the very end, forming a bracket around the object mehrere spannende Titel.
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