Breakdown of Der Vermieter suchte einen Kandidaten, wobei man als Mieter oft lange warten musste.
ein
a, an (eine)
oft
often
suchen
to look for
müssen
to have to, must
lange
for a long time, long
warten
to wait
man
one / you (impersonal)
als
as (in the role of)
der Kandidat
the candidate
wobei
whereby (recognizing that)
der Vermieter
the landlord (m)
der Mieter
the tenant (m)
Questions & Answers about Der Vermieter suchte einen Kandidaten, wobei man als Mieter oft lange warten musste.
How exactly is wobei functioning in this sentence?
In this sentence, wobei introduces a subordinate clause that adds an accompanying circumstance or a restriction to the main clause. It translates best to "whereby" or "with the caveat that". It connects the landlord's action to the reality of the situation for the tenant.
Why does musste go at the very end of the sentence?
Because wobei functions here as a relative connector that introduces a subordinate clause. Just like with dass or weil, the conjugated verb (musste) is kicked to the end of the clause.
Why is it einen Kandidaten? Isn't Kandidaten plural?
Here it is actually singular! The word Kandidat belongs to a special group called weak masculine nouns (or n-declension nouns). These nouns add an -n or -en ending in every case except the nominative singular. Since the candidate is the direct object (accusative), it becomes einen Kandidaten.
In the phrase man als Mieter, how do we know what case Mieter should be in?
The word after als (as) always takes the same case as the noun or pronoun it refers back to. Here, it refers to man (one), which is the subject of the clause and therefore in the nominative case. So, Mieter stays in the nominative case too.
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