Breakdown of Wer diese Person kennt, soll es sagen.
es
it
sagen
to say
wer
who
kennen
to know (somebody/something)
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
sollen
should / ought to
die Person
the person (individual)
Questions & Answers about Wer diese Person kennt, soll es sagen.
Why does this sentence start with Wer, and does it ask a question here?
In this sentence, Wer doesn't ask a question. Instead, it translates to "whoever" or "anyone who". It sets up a "free relative clause" — a clause that doesn't describe a specific noun you already mentioned, but rather creates a general subject for the entire sentence.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with the verb soll right after the comma?
In a regular German main clause, the conjugated verb must be in the second position. The entire first clause (Wer diese Person kennt) acts as one giant block occupying position one. Because of this, the verb soll must come immediately after the comma to take position two.
Could you add a der after the comma, like ...der soll es sagen?
Yes, you absolutely can! That extra der acts as a pointer back to "whoever" and is very common in German. However, when the role in both halves of the sentence is the same (here, both are the nominative subject), you are allowed to drop the der completely.
Why is es translated as "so" instead of "it"?
In English, we use "so" as a placeholder in phrases like "say so", "hope so", or "think so". German simply uses the pronoun es (it) for this concept. You are literally saying that the person should "say it".
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