Breakdown of Alle reichen Ritter sind für die Prinzessin nichts anderes als Bettler.
sein
to be
alle
all, everyone
für
for
reich
rich
der Ritter
the knight
die Prinzessin
the princess
nichts anderes als
nothing but
der Bettler
the beggar
Questions & Answers about Alle reichen Ritter sind für die Prinzessin nichts anderes als Bettler.
Why does anderes have an -es ending in the phrase nichts anderes als?
The word nichts is treated as a neuter pronoun. When you follow it with an adjective like ander (other) to describe it, that adjective takes the strong neuter ending -es. The whole phrase literally means 'nothing other than', which translates smoothly to 'nothing but'.
Why use nichts anderes als here instead of niemand anderes als, since knights and beggars are people?
You use nichts anderes als (nothing but) because the sentence is reducing the knights to a general category or concept. You would only use niemand anderes als (nobody else but) when referring to a specific person's literal identity, for example: Es war niemand anderes als der König (It was nobody else but the king).
Why is the adjective ending -en in Alle reichen Ritter?
After the plural word alle (all), following adjectives must take the weak ending, which is always -en in the plural. Learners often forget this and try to use the strong ending (reiche), but alle acts like a definite article and does the heavy lifting for the case.
What case is Bettler in, and what determines it?
Bettler is in the nominative plural case. The conjunction als connects things that are in the same case. Since Bettler is being directly equated to the subject of the sentence, Alle reichen Ritter (which is nominative), it must also be in the nominative case.
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