Breakdown of Die süßes Obst naschenden Kinder sind so glücklich wie die Erwachsenen.
sein
to be
das Kind
the child
glücklich
happy
das Obst
the fruit
so
so, such (intensifier)
süß
sweet
wie
as (in comparisons)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Erwachsene
the adult
naschen
to nibble
Questions & Answers about Die süßes Obst naschenden Kinder sind so glücklich wie die Erwachsenen.
How does the phrase Die süßes Obst naschenden Kinder work in this sentence?
This is an extended participle attribute (Linksattribut). Instead of using a relative clause like "The children who are nibbling sweet fruit", German often packs the action and its objects directly between the article and the noun. It translates literally as "The sweet fruit nibbling children." When you see this structure, find the article (Die), jump to the noun it belongs to (Kinder), and then read the participle phrase (süßes Obst naschenden) acting as a giant adjective in between.
Why does the present participle naschenden end in -en here?
Present participles act exactly like adjectives when they are placed directly before a noun. Here, the participle naschend modifies the plural noun Kinder and follows the plural definite article Die. After a definite article in the plural, adjectives and participles always take the weak ending -en.
Why is it süßes Obst inside the participle phrase, rather than süße or süßen?
Inside the extended attribute, the noun Obst is the direct object of the nibbling action, so it is in the accusative case. Obst is a neuter noun. Since there is no article before it (like das or ein), the adjective süß must take the strong ending -es to indicate that it is neuter and accusative.
Why does Erwachsenen end in -en even though it is a noun?
Erwachsenen is a nominalized adjective, meaning it is an adjective (erwachsen) that has been turned into a noun. Even though it is capitalized like a regular noun, its endings still follow the rules for adjective declension. Since it is a plural word following the definite article die, it takes the weak plural adjective ending -en.
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