Breakdown of Für sie ist er niemand anderes als ein Bettler.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
sie
she
für
for
niemand anderes als
nobody else but
der Bettler
the beggar
Questions & Answers about Für sie ist er niemand anderes als ein Bettler.
Why is it niemand anderes with an -es ending, rather than niemand anderer to match the masculine er?
Although you might expect the masculine ending -er for a male person, niemand anderes acts as a fixed phrase. With indefinite pronouns like niemand and jemand, German typically uses the strong neuter ending -es for the following adjective, regardless of the person's actual gender.
Could I use nichts anderes als in this sentence instead?
No, because nichts means nothing and is only used for things, concepts, or animals. Since ein Bettler (a beggar) is a person, you must use niemand (nobody). This mirrors English: we say nobody else but a beggar, not nothing else but a beggar.
Why is ein Bettler in the nominative case? Doesn't the sentence start with the accusative preposition für?
The preposition für only affects the pronoun right after it, which is why we see the accusative sie. The noun ein Bettler is connected to the subject er by the verb ist (to be) and the word als. Because als always matches the case of the thing it compares to, and er is a nominative subject, ein Bettler must also be nominative.
Why does the verb ist come before the subject er?
This is a great refresher on the German V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence begins with the prepositional block Für sie, which counts as the first position. To keep the conjugated verb in the mandatory second position, ist must come next, pushing the subject er into the third spot.
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