Breakdown of Bevor das Schiff gekentert ist, hatte der Anführer die Kanonen ins Meer geworfen.
sein
to be
in
in
haben
to have
werfen
to throw
das Schiff
the ship
das Meer
the sea
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
bevor
before
kentern
to capsize
die Kanone
the cannon
der Anführer
the leader
Questions & Answers about Bevor das Schiff gekentert ist, hatte der Anführer die Kanonen ins Meer geworfen.
How would I apply this lesson's topic (subjective sollen) to say the leader supposedly threw the cannons?
You would change the main clause to use sollen with the Perfekt Infinitive. The sentence becomes: Bevor das Schiff gekentert ist, soll der Anführer die Kanonen ins Meer geworfen haben. This expresses that it is rumored or claimed he did this before the ship capsized.
Why do we use the Perfekt (gekentert ist) in the first half but the Plusquamperfekt (hatte... geworfen) in the second half?
This highlights the sequence of events. The Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) is used for the action that happened furthest back in the past: throwing the cannons. The more recent past event, the capsizing, is expressed in the Perfekt. The word bevor sets up this timeline.
Why does kentern (to capsize) use sein as its helping verb (gekentert ist) instead of haben?
Intransitive verbs that describe a change of state or a change of location always take sein in the Perfekt. Capsizing represents a change of state from floating upright to being overturned, so it requires sein.
Why does the sentence use the accusative ins Meer rather than the dative im Meer?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because the action of throwing (werfen) describes a movement directed toward a destination, it takes the accusative case. Ins is the contraction of in das. If we were describing where the cannons were already resting without moving to a new location, we would use the dative im Meer.
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