Breakdown of Das Foul war sowohl unfair als auch absichtlich.
sein
to be
sowohl ... als auch
both ... and
das Foul
the foul
absichtlich
intentional
unfair
unfair
Questions & Answers about Das Foul war sowohl unfair als auch absichtlich.
What is the grammatical role of sowohl ... als auch in this sentence?
It is a two-part conjunction that translates to "both ... and ...". It is used to emphasize that two things are equally true or applicable. Here, it simply links the two adjectives unfair and absichtlich.
Why is there no comma before als auch?
In German, you do not use commas with connectors that simply add things together without contrast, much like with und (and) or oder (or). This is a common trap, because contrastive two-part connectors like zwar ..., aber (admittedly..., but) do require a comma.
How is the word absichtlich formed?
It is built from the noun die Absicht, which means "the intention" or "the purpose." Adding the common suffix -lich turns it into an adjective or adverb, meaning "intentional" or "deliberately."
Foul and unfair are borrowed from English. Would unfair get a standard ending if it came directly before the noun?
Yes! Fully integrated loanwords generally behave just like native German words. Since Foul is a neuter noun (das Foul), "an unfair foul" would take the standard mixed declension ending for neuter adjectives: ein unfaires Foul.
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