Breakdown of Ich hob nicht ab, sooft das Telefon klingelte.
ich
I
nicht
not
klingeln
to ring
das Telefon
the telephone
Questions & Answers about Ich hob nicht ab, sooft das Telefon klingelte.
Does the word sooft change the word order in the same way as words like weil or dass?
Yes! sooft (meaning "whenever" or "every time that") is a subordinating conjunction. That means it kicks the conjugated verb in its clause to the very end. That's why the verb klingelte comes at the end of the second half of the sentence.
How is sooft different from immer wenn? Can they be used interchangeably here?
In this sentence, they mean exactly the same thing and are completely interchangeable. immer wenn das Telefon klingelte is a very common way to say this. sooft is just a slightly more elegant, one-word alternative that emphasizes the frequency ("as often as" it rang).
What is the infinitive of the verb hob ... ab?
The infinitive is the separable verb abheben. In the context of a phone, it means "to pick up" or "to answer". Here it is used in the simple past (Präteritum), which is why heben becomes hob and the prefix ab is pushed to the end of the main clause.
What would the word order be if I wanted to start the sentence with sooft?
If you put the subordinate clause first, it occupies the first "position" of the entire sentence. The main clause must then start immediately with its verb to keep the verb in the second position. It would look like this: Sooft das Telefon klingelte, hob ich nicht ab.