Breakdown of Während der Held humorvoll ist, bleibt der Nachbar humorlos.
sein
to be
bleiben
to stay
der Nachbar
the neighbor (male)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
während
while
der Held
the hero
humorvoll
humorous
humorlos
humorless
Questions & Answers about Während der Held humorvoll ist, bleibt der Nachbar humorlos.
How do the suffixes -voll and -los change the word Humor here?
The suffix -voll means "full of", so humorvoll literally means "full of humor" (humorous). The suffix -los means "without" (just like the English suffix "-less"), so humorlos means "without humor". You can attach these suffixes to many nouns to instantly create opposite adjectives.
Why are there no adjective endings on humorvoll and humorlos?
In German, adjectives only take endings (like -e or -er) when they are placed directly in front of a noun, as in ein humorvoller Held. Here, they are placed after the verbs ist and bleibt to describe the subject, so they keep their basic dictionary form.
Why does the second clause start with the verb bleibt instead of the subject der Nachbar?
The first part of the sentence starts with Während (while), which makes it a subordinate clause. This entire first clause acts as the first block of information (Position 1) in the overall sentence. Since the main verb must always be in Position 2, bleibt comes right after the comma, pushing the subject der Nachbar to the other side of the verb.
Can während be used for time, or is it only used for contrasting two things?
It can do both. As a conjunction connecting clauses like in this sentence, während means "while" and can express either a simultaneous action or a direct contrast. If you use it right before a noun instead of a clause (like während des Films), it acts as a preposition meaning "during".
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