Breakdown of Das erste Quartal war nicht so erfolgreich, wie wir erwartet haben.
sein
to be
haben
to have
wir
we
nicht
not
so
so, such (intensifier)
erste
first (adjective)
wie
as (in comparisons)
erfolgreich
successful / successfully
erwarten
to expect
das Quartal
the quarter (of a year)
Questions & Answers about Das erste Quartal war nicht so erfolgreich, wie wir erwartet haben.
Why is there a comma before wie in this sentence? I thought comparisons didn't always need one.
In this sentence, wie introduces a full subordinate clause. It has its own subject (wir) and conjugated verb (haben). Because it is a full clause, you need a comma to separate it from the main clause. If you were just comparing to a simple noun phrase without a verb (like nicht so erfolgreich wie das letzte Quartal), you wouldn't use a comma.
Why does haben go at the very end of the sentence instead of right after wir?
The word wie in this structure acts as a subordinating conjunction, which kicks the conjugated verb (haben) to the very end of the clause. This verb-final word order is standard for comparative subordinate clauses.
The English translation uses the past perfect ('had expected'), but the German uses the present perfect (erwartet haben). Is that a mistake?
It is not a mistake! While you absolutely can use the past perfect here (wie wir erwartet hatten), German is often much looser with its sequence of tenses than English. In everyday language, speakers frequently fall back on the standard spoken past (erwartet haben) even when referring to an expectation that happened before another past event.
Since Quartal is neuter, shouldn't the adjective be erstes instead of erste?
Quartal is indeed neuter, but because it is preceded by the definite article das, the adjective takes the weak declension. For a neuter noun in the nominative case with a definite article, the weak ending is just -e. If there were no article at all, it would take the strong ending -es.
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