Breakdown of Die Leute oben, die trampeln, als ob sie völlig rücksichtslos wären.
sein
to be
sie
they
die Leute
the people
als ob
as if
völlig
completely
oben
upstairs, up there
rücksichtslos
inconsiderate
trampeln
to stomp
Questions & Answers about Die Leute oben, die trampeln, als ob sie völlig rücksichtslos wären.
Why is there a comma after Die Leute oben, followed by die?
This is a spoken German feature called left dislocation. The speaker brings the topic (Die Leute oben) to the very beginning of the sentence for emphasis, and then immediately resumes it with a demonstrative pronoun (die) which acts as the actual subject of the verb trampeln.
Could I use the personal pronoun sie instead of die right after the comma?
In standard written German, you would just say Die Leute oben trampeln without any extra pronoun. In this spoken structure, however, you almost always use a demonstrative pronoun like der, die, or das to point back to the noun, rather than a personal pronoun like sie.
Why is the verb wären at the very end of the sentence?
The conjunction als ob (as if) always introduces a subordinate clause, which pushes the conjugated verb (wären) to the end. Because it describes an unreal or hypothetical situation, it requires the Konjunktiv II form.
Is it normal to put the adverb oben right after the noun in Die Leute oben?
Yes! While oben is an adverb meaning above or upstairs, German often places adverbs of location directly after a noun to specify which one you mean. It is essentially a shortened, everyday way of saying Die Leute, die oben sind.
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