Breakdown of Die Herrschaft war kurz, weil der Feind den König und dessen Erben vergiftete.
sein
to be
und
and
kurz
shortly / short
der König
the king
weil
because (subordinating)
der Feind
the enemy
dessen
his (referring back to something just mentioned)
die Herrschaft
the reign
der Erbe
the heir
vergiften
to poison
Questions & Answers about Die Herrschaft war kurz, weil der Feind den König und dessen Erben vergiftete.
Why do we use dessen here instead of just saying seinen Erben?
This is the core of your current lesson! If we used seinen (his), it would naturally refer back to the subject of the clause, der Feind. That would mean the enemy poisoned the king and the enemy's own heir. Using the demonstrative pronoun dessen points specifically to the most recently mentioned person, which is the king.
The English translation says heir in the singular, but Erben looks like a plural. Why is there an -n at the end?
The word Erbe (heir) is a masculine weak noun, meaning it follows the n-declension rules. These nouns add an -n or -en in all cases except the nominative singular. Because the heir is the direct object being poisoned, it is in the accusative case, changing der Erbe to den Erben.
Does dessen change its ending depending on the case or gender of Erben?
No. Unlike normal possessive pronouns like sein or mein, dessen does not take adjective endings. Its form is locked based entirely on the gender and number of the owner (in this case, the masculine singular king). Whether the king had a female heir or plural heirs, the word dessen stays exactly the same.
Why is the verb vergiftete placed at the very end of the sentence?
The second half of the sentence is introduced by weil (because). This is a subordinating conjunction, which always kicks the conjugated verb in that clause (vergiftete) to the very end.
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