Breakdown of Der Käfig war gereinigt, jedoch haben Sie die Symptome zu melden.
sein
to be
Sie
you (formal)
haben
to have
der Käfig
the cage
reinigen
to clean (formally, thoroughly)
jedoch
however
das Symptom
the symptom
melden
to report
Questions & Answers about Der Käfig war gereinigt, jedoch haben Sie die Symptome zu melden.
Why does the second part use haben Sie ... zu melden instead of müssen?
The structure haben + zu + infinitive (here: haben ... zu melden) expresses a strict, active obligation. It means the exact same thing as Sie müssen die Symptome melden, but it sounds more formal, official, or authoritative.
Why is it war gereinigt and not wurde gereinigt?
war gereinigt uses the stative passive (a past tense form of sein + past participle) to describe a finished condition or state in the past—the cage was already sitting there in a clean state. If you used wurde gereinigt (the action passive), it would focus on the action itself, meaning someone was in the process of cleaning it right then.
Why does the verb haben come immediately after jedoch?
The word jedoch (however) is an adverb that takes up the first position in the second clause. Because the conjugated verb must always be in the second position in a standard main clause, haben comes right after it, pushing the subject Sie into the third position.
Could I use aber instead of jedoch?
Yes, but the word order would change. aber is a coordinating conjunction that takes "position zero" (it doesn't count toward the verb position rule). So, if you used aber, the subject Sie would take position 1, resulting in: ...aber Sie haben die Symptome zu melden.
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