Breakdown of Dieses Quartal war genau so wichtig, wie wir es geplant haben.
sein
to be
es
it
haben
to have
wir
we
wichtig
important
planen
to plan
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
genau
exactly / precise, exact
so
so, such (intensifier)
wie
as (in comparisons)
das Quartal
the quarter (of a year)
Questions & Answers about Dieses Quartal war genau so wichtig, wie wir es geplant haben.
Why does the helping verb haben go at the very end of the sentence?
The comparison so ... wie (as ... as) uses wie to introduce a subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb—in this case, the helping verb haben—must be pushed to the very end, placing it after the past participle geplant.
Could I use als instead of wie in this sentence?
No, because this is a comparison of equality. Whenever you use so [adjective] ... wie (as [adjective] as), you must use wie. The word als is only used for unequal comparisons, like wichtiger als (more important than).
Why is there an es in wie wir es geplant haben?
In German, verbs like planen (to plan) typically require a direct object. The pronoun es (it) acts as a placeholder referring to the situation or outcome. While English often drops the 'it' in phrases like 'as we planned', German sounds much more natural when it is included.
The English translation uses 'had planned', but the German uses the Present Perfect (geplant haben). Why isn't it geplant hatten?
Grammatically, geplant hatten (Past Perfect / Plusquamperfekt) would be more precise, since the planning happened before the quarter was important. However, in spoken and everyday German, it is very common to substitute the Present Perfect (geplant haben) instead, even when English strictly uses the Past Perfect.
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