Breakdown of Das ist kein Tier, sondern es wird wohl das Skelett von einem Dinosaurier sein.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
es
it
kein
no, not any
das Tier
the animal
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
werden
will (future auxiliary)
sondern
but rather
wohl
probably, I suppose
der Dinosaurier
the dinosaur
das Skelett
the skeleton
Questions & Answers about Das ist kein Tier, sondern es wird wohl das Skelett von einem Dinosaurier sein.
Why does the German sentence use the future tense (wird ... sein) when the English translation says it "is" something?
In German, the future tense (Futur I) isn't just for talking about the future. When you use werden plus an infinitive verb (like sein at the end here), it can express an assumption or a guess about something happening right now. The speaker is making a logical guess about what the object currently is.
What does wohl add to this sentence?
wohl is a modal particle that softens the sentence and shows uncertainty. Here, it translates to "probably" or "I assume." Combined with the future tense, it makes it perfectly clear that the speaker is making a strong guess rather than stating a confirmed fact.
Why use sondern instead of aber to mean "but"?
You must use sondern when you are directly contradicting a negative statement. Because the first half of the sentence contains a negative word (kein), the second half uses sondern to express "not X, but rather Y."
Could I say das Skelett eines Dinosauriers instead of das Skelett von einem Dinosaurier?
Yes, absolutely! Using the Genitive case (eines Dinosauriers) is the standard, slightly more formal way to express possession or "of a." However, in everyday spoken German, people frequently replace the Genitive with von plus the Dative case (von einem Dinosaurier), which is what this sentence does.
Does sondern change the word order in the second clause?
No, sondern is a coordinating conjunction just like und or aber. It occupies "position zero," meaning it doesn't push the verb to the end. The subject es takes position 1, and the conjugated verb wird sits securely in position 2, exactly as it would in any normal main clause.
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