Breakdown of Das Hochwasser zerstört den Wald, demzufolge fehlt den Tieren der Lebensraum.
das Tier
the animal
fehlen
to be missing
der Wald
the forest
zerstören
to destroy
demzufolge
as a result
der Lebensraum
the habitat
das Hochwasser
the flood
Questions & Answers about Das Hochwasser zerstört den Wald, demzufolge fehlt den Tieren der Lebensraum.
Why does the verb fehlt come right after demzufolge instead of the subject?
demzufolge is an adverbial connector, meaning it takes up the first position in its clause. According to the German V2 rule, the conjugated verb (fehlt) must come exactly in the second position. The rest of the clause, including the subject (der Lebensraum) and objects, follows the verb.
Why is den Tieren in the dative case here when the English translation says "the animals lack"?
The verb fehlen works backward compared to the English verb "to lack". In German, the thing that is missing is the subject in the nominative case (der Lebensraum). The person or animal experiencing the lack takes the dative case (den Tieren). Literally, the sentence means "the habitat is missing to the animals".
Could I place demzufolge later in the second clause instead of at the very beginning?
Yes, because demzufolge is an adverb, it is flexible. You could start the second clause with the dative object instead: ... den Tieren fehlt demzufolge der Lebensraum. In that case, den Tieren is in position 1, the verb fehlt stays in position 2, and the adverb moves to the middle of the sentence.
How is demzufolge different from a connector like deshalb?
demzufolge means exactly the same thing as deshalb or daher (therefore / as a result) and behaves exactly the same way grammatically. Connectors like demzufolge, folglich, and infolgedessen simply sound a bit more formal and are excellent vocabulary choices for B2-level writing.
Learn Das Hochwasser zerstört den Wald, demzufolge fehlt den Tieren der Lebensraum and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free