Breakdown of Der Mann verlässt das Schaufenster schnell, weil er den Wachmann sieht.
der Mann
the man
er
he
schnell
fast, quickly
sehen
to see
weil
because (subordinating)
verlassen
to leave
der Wachmann
the security guard
das Schaufenster
the shop window
Questions & Answers about Der Mann verlässt das Schaufenster schnell, weil er den Wachmann sieht.
How would I rewrite this sentence to say "The man seems to leave the shop window..." using this lesson's grammar?
You would use scheinen (to seem) as the conjugated main verb in the second position, and put zu verlassen at the end of the first clause. The sentence becomes: Der Mann scheint das Schaufenster schnell zu verlassen, weil er den Wachmann sieht.
Why is it verlässt and not verlasst?
The verb verlassen (to leave) is a strong (irregular) verb. Just like its root verb lassen (to let/leave), its stem vowel changes from "a" to "ä" in the du and er/sie/es forms. Since der Mann is third-person singular, the verb becomes verlässt.
Why does the verb sieht come at the very end of the sentence?
The word weil (because) is a subordinating conjunction. In German, subordinating conjunctions introduce a dependent clause and kick the conjugated verb—in this case, sieht—all the way to the end of that clause.
Why is it den Wachmann instead of der Wachmann?
The security guard is the direct object of the sentence (he is the one being seen by the man). Because of this, the noun must be in the accusative case, which changes the masculine "the" from der to den.
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