Breakdown of Der Züchter soll der allerbeste sein.
sein
to be
gut
good / well
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Züchter
the breeder
sollen
to be said to (hearsay)
Questions & Answers about Der Züchter soll der allerbeste sein.
How does the prefix aller- change the meaning of beste in this sentence?
Adding aller- to a superlative adjective intensifies it. While der beste simply means the best, der allerbeste translates to the very best or the best of all. You can attach aller- to almost any superlative form to give it this extra emphasis.
Why is soll translated as 'is said to' instead of 'should'?
At the B2 level, you learn that modal verbs can be used subjectively to express how reliable a piece of information is. When sollen is used this way, it indicates a rumor or hearsay. So der Züchter soll... sein means the breeder is said to be... or I have heard the breeder is..., rather than expressing an obligation or giving advice.
Why does allerbeste end in -e here?
It takes the weak adjective ending -e because it directly follows the nominative definite article der. It is acting as a predicate adjective describing the masculine subject, der Züchter.
Since allerbeste follows the article der, why isn't it capitalized like a noun?
When an adjective refers back to a noun mentioned earlier in the sentence, it remains lowercase even if the noun itself is dropped to avoid repetition. Here, der allerbeste implies der allerbeste Züchter. If it stood completely on its own to mean 'the best person of all' without referring to a specific noun, it would be nominalized and capitalized as der Allerbeste.
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