Breakdown of Körperliche Arbeit ist für ältere Leute oft anstrengend.
sein
to be
oft
often
die Leute
the people
alt
old
die Arbeit
the work
für
for
anstrengend
exhausting
körperlich
physical
Questions & Answers about Körperliche Arbeit ist für ältere Leute oft anstrengend.
Why is ältere Leute translated as "elderly people"? Aren't comparatives supposed to compare two specific things?
This sentence uses the Absolute Comparative (absoluter Komparativ). Instead of comparing two specific things (like "A is older than B"), it softens the meaning of the base adjective. Ältere Leute means "elderly people" or "older people in general." Ironically, in German, ältere Leute are often considered slightly younger or more active than alte Leute (old people).
Why does ältere end in -e after für?
The preposition für always triggers the accusative case. Leute is plural, and because there is no article (like die or keine) in front of it, the adjective must take the strong ending for the plural accusative, which is -e.
Why is it körperliche Arbeit with an -e ending?
Arbeit is a feminine noun, and it is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case. Since there is no article before it (like die or eine), the adjective takes the strong feminine nominative ending, which is -e.
Is anstrengend a verb or an adjective, and why doesn't it have an ending?
It is a present participle acting as an adjective. You form it by adding -d to the infinitive verb anstrengen (to strain / to exhaust), making anstrengend (exhausting). Because it comes after the verb ist to describe the subject (a predicate adjective), it does not take any declension ending.
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