Breakdown of Einerseits summen die Bienen schön, andererseits ist der Stich schmerzhaft.
sein
to be
schön
beautiful
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
schmerzhaft
painful
einerseits
on the one hand
die Biene
the bee
andererseits
on the other hand
summen
to buzz (bees, insects)
der Stich
the sting
Questions & Answers about Einerseits summen die Bienen schön, andererseits ist der Stich schmerzhaft.
Why do the verbs summen and ist come immediately after einerseits and andererseits?
Einerseits and andererseits are adverbs, not coordinating conjunctions like und or aber. When you put them at the very beginning of a clause, they take up the first position. To obey the strict verb-second rule in German, the subjects (die Bienen and der Stich) must move to the third position right after the verbs.
Do einerseits and andererseits always have to be at the start of their clauses?
No. While putting them at the beginning emphasizes the contrast, they can also go in the middle of the sentence. For example, you could say: Die Bienen summen einerseits schön, der Stich ist andererseits schmerzhaft. In that case, the subjects take the first position and the verb stays in the second.
What does the suffix -haft do in the word schmerzhaft?
The ending -haft is often added to nouns to create adjectives, meaning that something has a certain quality. Here, it turns the noun der Schmerz (the pain) into the adjective schmerzhaft (painful). It works similarly to the English suffix -ful.
Why is schön used here without a special ending for beautifully?
In German, the basic dictionary form of an adjective is also used as an adverb. So schön can mean either beautiful when describing a noun, or beautifully when describing an action like summen. You do not need to add any special endings to make it an adverb.
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