Breakdown of Wir dulden Fehlverhalten nicht, sondern erwarten angemessenes Benehmen.
wir
we
nicht
not
sondern
but rather
erwarten
to expect
angemessen
appropriate
das Benehmen
the behavior (manners, social conduct)
das Fehlverhalten
the misconduct
dulden
to tolerate (put up with, endure)
Questions & Answers about Wir dulden Fehlverhalten nicht, sondern erwarten angemessenes Benehmen.
How would I use this lesson's topic to say 'misconduct on the part of the employees' in this sentence?
You can insert seitens or vonseiten followed by a noun in the genitive case. For example: Wir dulden Fehlverhalten seitens der Mitarbeiter nicht... (We do not tolerate misconduct on the part of the employees...). Both prepositions mean 'on the part of' and are perfect for a formal sentence like this one.
Why is sondern used here for 'but' instead of aber?
You must use sondern when you are directly correcting or contradicting a negative statement (indicated here by nicht). It translates best to 'but rather'. While aber just adds contrasting information, sondern introduces the direct replacement for what was negated.
Why does the adjective angemessenes end in -es?
It modifies the neuter noun Benehmen (behavior) in the accusative case, as it is the direct object of erwarten. Because there is no article (like das or ein) in front of it, the adjective must take the strong ending -es to indicate the noun's gender and case.
Why is there no subject in the second half of the sentence after sondern?
The subject for both halves is wir. When connecting two main clauses with a coordinating conjunction like sondern (as well as und, aber, or oder), you do not need to repeat the subject or the conjugated verb if they remain exactly the same.
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