Word
Deshalb verkleidet er sich als Krieger.
Meaning
That is why he disguises himself as a warrior.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Deshalb verkleidet er sich als Krieger.
er
he
deshalb
therefore / that is why
sich verkleiden
to disguise oneself
als
as (in the role of)
Questions & Answers about Deshalb verkleidet er sich als Krieger.
Why is there no word for "a" before Krieger?
When using als to express a role, identity, or profession, German usually drops the indefinite article (ein or eine). So instead of saying "as a warrior", you simply say als Krieger.
What case is Krieger in after als?
The word als doesn't force a specific case; instead, the noun copies the case of whatever it refers to. Here, it can agree with er (the nominative subject) or sich (the accusative reflexive pronoun). Because Krieger stands alone here, it looks the same either way. But if you added an adjective, both nominative (als tapferer Krieger) and accusative (als tapferen Krieger) would be grammatically correct!
Why is the word order verkleidet er instead of er verkleidet?
The sentence starts with the adverb Deshalb (therefore / that is why) in position one. In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must always be in position two. This pushes the subject er to the third position, right after the verb.
Why do we need the word sich here?
The verb sich verkleiden (to disguise oneself) is a reflexive verb. Just like in English, he is disguising himself. If you omitted sich, the sentence would feel incomplete unless he were disguising someone else, like a friend or a pet.