Er spuckt keine Dose aus, was wirklich schade ist.
It doesn't spit out a can, which is really a pity.
Breakdown of Er spuckt keine Dose aus, was wirklich schade ist.
sein
to be
er
he
kein
no, not any
wirklich
really
schade
a pity / too bad
die Dose
the can
was
which (referring to a whole clause)
ausspucken
to spit out
Questions & Answers about Er spuckt keine Dose aus, was wirklich schade ist.
Why is was used here to mean "which", instead of a normal relative pronoun like das?
In German, when you want a relative pronoun to refer back to an entire preceding clause—in this case, the whole situation of it not spitting out a can—you must use was. You only use der, die, or das when referring back to a specific noun.
Why does the sentence start with Er if the translation says "It"?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they are replacing. This sentence is likely talking about a masculine object, like a vending machine (der Automat). Since it is grammatically masculine, it takes er, but in English, we naturally translate it as "it" because it is an inanimate object.
What is aus doing at the end of the first part of the sentence?
It belongs to the verb ausspucken (to spit out). Because it is a separable verb used in a main clause, the prefix aus detaches and jumps to the end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why does the verb ist come at the very end of the sentence?
The word was introduces a relative clause here, which is a type of subordinate clause. In all German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb (in this case, ist) is pushed to the very end of the clause.
The English translation says "a pity", so why isn't schade capitalized like a noun?
In German, schade is actually an adjective meaning "unfortunate" or "a shame". Since it is an adjective and not a noun, it isn't capitalized, even though it is often translated using a noun phrase in English.
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