Word
Die Umsetzung war erheblich schwieriger, als wir erwarteten.
Meaning
The implementation was considerably more difficult than we expected.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Die Umsetzung war erheblich schwieriger, als wir erwarteten.
sein
to be
wir
we
als
than
schwierig
difficult
Questions & Answers about Die Umsetzung war erheblich schwieriger, als wir erwarteten.
Why does the verb erwarteten go to the end of the sentence?
Here, als (than) acts as a subordinating conjunction because it introduces a full clause with its own subject (wir) and conjugated verb (erwarteten). Like most subordinating conjunctions in German, it kicks the conjugated verb to the very end of its clause.
How would I say this if I just wanted to say "than expected" without the "we"?
You can use the past participle on its own and say als erwartet. Because that shorter version isn't a full subordinate clause, you wouldn't use a comma before it. The sentence would simply end with ... erheblich schwieriger als erwartet.
Could I use viel instead of erheblich here?
Yes, viel schwieriger (much more difficult) is perfectly correct and very common. However, erheblich (considerably or significantly) is excellent B2-level vocabulary. It sounds a bit more professional or formal, making it perfect for discussing topics like project implementations.
Why does this sentence use the simple past erwarteten instead of the spoken past erwartet haben?