Word
Der Kritiker sagt, der Film ist überbewertet.
Meaning
The critic says the movie is overrated.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Kritiker sagt, der Film ist überbewertet.
sein
to be
sagen
to say
der Film
the movie / the film
der Kritiker
the critic
Questions & Answers about Der Kritiker sagt, der Film ist überbewertet.
Why is the verb ist in the second position instead of at the end of the clause?
This sentence is using a subordinate clause without dass. When you drop dass after verbs of saying or thinking, the subordinate clause takes normal main clause word order (Verb-Second). If you kept the conjunction, the verb would be kicked to the end: Der Kritiker sagt, dass der Film überbewertet ist.
Do I still need the comma even though the word dass is missing?
Yes! In German, you must always separate the main clause (Der Kritiker sagt) from the subordinate clause with a comma, even when the conjunction is dropped.
Since this is reported speech, shouldn't the verb be sei (Konjunktiv I) instead of ist?
You can absolutely use the Konjunktiv I here (... der Film sei überbewertet) for formal reported speech, such as in a newspaper. However, in everyday spoken German, people frequently use the standard indicative mood (ist), especially in these types of clauses without dass.
Why doesn't the past participle überbewertet have a -ge- in it?
It comes from the verb überbewerten (to overrate). The prefix über- can be separable or inseparable depending on the verb. Here it is inseparable, and verbs with inseparable prefixes do not take a -ge- when forming the past participle.