Breakdown of Ein Student flüstert, der Dekan sei ein Monster.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Student
the university student
Questions & Answers about Ein Student flüstert, der Dekan sei ein Monster.
Why is the verb sei used here instead of ist?
sei is the Konjunktiv I (Present Subjunctive) form of sein (to be) for the third-person singular (er/sie/es). We use it here for reported speech to show we are just repeating the student's claim, distancing ourselves from whether or not the dean actually is a monster.
I thought reported speech was a subordinate clause. Why isn't the verb at the end of the sentence?
Normally, a reported statement uses the conjunction dass (that), which kicks the verb to the end of the clause. However, German often drops dass in reported speech. When you drop it, the reported clause uses standard main clause word order, putting the verb (sei) in the second position.
Is it possible to use dass in this sentence?
Yes! You could perfectly well say, Ein Student flüstert, dass der Dekan ein Monster sei. Notice that if you add dass, the verb sei gets pushed to the very end of the sentence. Both versions are correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why is there a comma after flüstert?
In German, you must always use a comma to separate the main clause (Ein Student flüstert) from the reported speech clause. This rule applies even if you omit the word dass. This is different from English, where we usually write "whispers the dean is..." without a comma.