Breakdown of Der Kaiser lehnt die wählerische Prinzessin ab.
ablehnen
to refuse
die Prinzessin
the princess
wählerisch
picky
der Kaiser
the emperor
Questions & Answers about Der Kaiser lehnt die wählerische Prinzessin ab.
How would I use this lesson's grammar to say he rejects "nobody else but" the picky princess?
You place the phrase right before the direct object. Since the verb ablehnen requires the accusative case, the pronoun in the phrase takes an accusative ending, becoming niemand anderen als. The new sentence is: Der Kaiser lehnt niemand anderen als die wählerische Prinzessin ab.
Is the word wählerische related to the verb wählen (to vote / to choose)?
Yes! The base verb wählen means to choose or vote. Adding the suffix -erisch creates an adjective that describes a habit or personality trait. Therefore, someone who is wählerisch has a habit of being very "choosy" or picky.
Just as a refresher, why does wählerische end in -e here?
The adjective modifies the feminine noun Prinzessin in the accusative case, and it directly follows the definite article die. This triggers the weak adjective declension, which requires an -e ending for feminine accusative nouns.
Why is ab sitting all the way at the end of the sentence?
This is due to the separable verb ablehnen (to reject or decline). In a standard main clause in the present tense, the prefix ab- separates from the core verb and moves to the very end of the sentence, leaving the conjugated stem lehnt in the second position.