Breakdown of Der Mann ist des Verrats schuldig und hat ein schlechtes Gewissen.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
der Mann
the man
und
and
haben
to have
schlecht
bad
der Verrat
the betrayal
schuldig
guilty
das Gewissen
the conscience
Questions & Answers about Der Mann ist des Verrats schuldig und hat ein schlechtes Gewissen.
Why does the sentence use des Verrats schuldig instead of a preposition for "guilty of"?
In German, the adjective schuldig (guilty) belongs to a specific group of adjectives that directly govern the genitive case. Instead of using a preposition like "of" in English, you simply put the thing the person is guilty of into the genitive case (des Verrats).
Is the word order fixed? Could I say Der Mann ist schuldig des Verrats?
While you might see that order in older literature or poetry, in modern German the genitive object almost always comes directly before the adjective that requires it. So, des Verrats schuldig is the standard, natural-sounding word order.
Why is there an -s at the end of Verrats?
Verrat (betrayal) is a masculine noun (der Verrat). When masculine and neuter nouns are put into the genitive case, they generally take an -s or -es ending. Here, the article and noun change to des Verrats.
Quick refresher: Why is the ending on schlechtes an -es here?
Gewissen is a neuter noun (das Gewissen), and here it is the direct object (accusative case) of the verb hat. Because the indefinite article ein doesn't show the gender in this case, the adjective schlecht must take the strong ending -es to signal that the noun is neuter.
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