Breakdown of Wen ich abweise, der bleibt draußen, obwohl er reich ist.
ich
I
sein
to be
er
he
draußen
outside
bleiben
to stay
reich
rich
wen
whom (accusative)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
obwohl
although
abweisen
to turn away
Questions & Answers about Wen ich abweise, der bleibt draußen, obwohl er reich ist.
Why do we use the accusative Wen but the nominative der for the same person?
The case depends on the person's role in each specific clause. In the first clause, the person is the direct object being turned away (abweisen), so we need the accusative Wen (whomever). In the second clause, that same person is the subject doing the staying (bleibt), so we use the nominative demonstrative pronoun der.
What is the word der doing in the middle of the sentence? Is it just "the"?
Here, der is a demonstrative pronoun meaning "that person" or "he". When a sentence starts with a free relative clause like Wen ich abweise, German speakers often use der (or dem, den, etc.) right after the comma to smoothly connect the "whoever" or "whomever" person back into the main sentence.
Why isn't the separable verb abweisen split into weise ... ab?
Because Wen ich abweise is a relative clause. Relative clauses act like subordinate clauses, which means the conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end. When a separable verb is sent to the end of a clause like this, its two parts remain attached as a single word.
Why is the verb ist at the very end of the final clause?
The word obwohl (although) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb (ist) to be placed at the very end of that specific clause.
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