Breakdown of Er baut das Aquarium selbst, anstatt dass er ein kleines Becken kauft.
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
klein
small
kaufen
to buy
bauen
to build
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
selbst
oneself, myself (emphatic); even
anstatt dass
instead of (+ subordinate clause)
das Becken
the tank
das Aquarium
the aquarium
Questions & Answers about Er baut das Aquarium selbst, anstatt dass er ein kleines Becken kauft.
Since the subject is "er" in both parts of the sentence, couldn't we use an infinitive phrase here?
Yes! In fact, using an infinitive phrase is much more common and elegant when the subject is the same in both clauses. You will usually hear ..., anstatt ein kleines Becken zu kaufen. The phrasing anstatt dass er... kauft is grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit clunky because it unnecessarily repeats the subject er.
Is there a difference between using "selbst" and "selber" in this sentence?
Meaning-wise, there is no difference at all—both translate to "himself" here. However, selbst is the standard form used in writing and careful speech, whereas selber is highly colloquial. In everyday casual conversation, you'll very frequently hear Er baut das Aquarium selber.
Why does "kleines" end in "-es" here?
Becken is a neuter noun (das Becken), and in this sentence it is the direct object, putting it in the accusative case. Because the indefinite article ein doesn't have a distinct ending in the neuter accusative, the adjective klein has to do the heavy lifting. It takes the strong ending -es to clearly mark the neuter gender.
How does "anstatt dass" affect the word order of the second clause?
The combination anstatt dass (instead of / rather than) acts as a subordinating conjunction. Just like a regular dass or weil, it introduces a subordinate clause, which forces the conjugated verb (kauft) to be placed at the very end of the sentence.
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