Breakdown of Da das Tattoo schmerzhaft ist, bleibt der Kunde still sitzen.
sein
to be
bleiben
to stay
sitzen
to sit
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Da das Tattoo schmerzhaft ist, bleibt der Kunde still sitzen.
Why is there no zu before sitzen?
The verb bleiben is part of a special group of verbs that pair with a bare infinitive (an infinitive without zu). Just like verbs of motion (gehen) or perception (sehen), when you use bleiben with another verb, that second verb simply goes to the end of the sentence in its basic dictionary form. Here, bleibt... sitzen means "stays seated".
Why does the second half of the sentence start with bleibt instead of der Kunde?
This happens because of the German verb-second (V2) rule. The entire introductory subordinate clause (Da das Tattoo schmerzhaft ist) counts as the first "position" of the main sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, bleibt has to come immediately after the comma, pushing the subject (der Kunde) to the other side of the verb.
I learned that da means "there". Why does it mean "since" here?
When da is used as a standalone adverb, it means "there". But here it is used as a conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause, meaning "because" or "since". You can easily tell it is acting as a conjunction here because it kicks the verb (ist) to the very end of its clause.
Is still sitzen a single separable verb in this sentence?