Breakdown of Die Nachfolge war viel sicherer, weil der König den Herzog sofort krönte.
sein
to be
viel
much / a lot
sofort
immediately
sicher
sure / certain
der König
the king
weil
because (subordinating)
der Herzog
the duke
krönen
to crown
die Nachfolge
the succession
Questions & Answers about Die Nachfolge war viel sicherer, weil der König den Herzog sofort krönte.
How would we change this sentence to say the king crowned 'his (the duke's) son' using the grammar from this lesson?
You would use the demonstrative possessive pronoun dessen: '... weil der König dessen Sohn sofort krönte.' If you used seinen Sohn, it would be ambiguous and likely mean the king crowned his own son. Dessen points strictly to the previously mentioned noun (the duke).
Why do we say viel sicherer and not sehr sicherer?
To emphasize a comparative adjective in German, you must use viel (much), just like in English. You can say sehr sicher (very safe), but for the comparative form sicherer (safer), it has to be viel sicherer (much safer).
How is the noun die Nachfolge constructed?
It comes from the prefix nach- (after) and the noun die Folge (the sequence or consequence, from the verb folgen, meaning 'to follow'). Together, they create a word that literally means 'following after,' which translates perfectly to 'succession.'
As a quick refresher, why is krönte at the very end of the sentence?
The sentence uses weil (because), which is a subordinating conjunction. This creates a dependent clause and forces the conjugated verb (krönte) to the very end of that clause.
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