Breakdown of Der Ehrengast schläft wohl immer noch.
immer
always
schlafen
to sleep
noch
still / yet
wohl
probably, I suppose
der Ehrengast
the guest of honor
Questions & Answers about Der Ehrengast schläft wohl immer noch.
How does the word wohl function in this sentence?
In this sentence, wohl acts as a modal particle that expresses an assumption or strong probability. It changes the statement from a hard fact ("The guest of honor is sleeping") to an educated guess ("The guest of honor is probably sleeping"). It is a very natural way to express "I assume that..." without needing a complex subordinate clause.
Could we use the future tense (Futur I) here instead to express an assumption?
Yes, you could say Der Ehrengast wird wohl immer noch schlafen. However, as this lesson shows, using the present tense (schläft) combined with wohl is extremely common in everyday German. It sounds more immediate and natural for a present-moment guess, and it saves you from having to juggle an auxiliary verb at the end of the sentence.
Why use immer noch instead of just noch to say "still"?
While both can translate to "still," adding immer emphasizes the duration of the action. Immer noch implies that the situation is continuing longer than expected or is somehow notable—the guest of honor is still sleeping, despite how late it is or the fact that the event might be starting soon.
What is the -n- doing in the middle of Ehrengast?
It is a linking letter (Fugenlaut) used to glue two nouns together smoothly. When combining die Ehre (honor) and der Gast (guest) into a compound noun, feminine nouns that end in -e almost always take an -n- before attaching to the next word.
Learn Der Ehrengast schläft wohl immer noch and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free