Breakdown of Ich glaube, das Sofa ist federleicht, aber es ist bleischwer.
ich
I
sein
to be
es
it
aber
but
glauben
to believe
das Sofa
the sofa
federleicht
feather-light
bleischwer
lead-heavy
Questions & Answers about Ich glaube, das Sofa ist federleicht, aber es ist bleischwer.
What are the two parts that make up the word federleicht?
It combines the noun die Feder (the feather) with the adjective leicht (light). German frequently attaches a noun to the front of an adjective to intensify it, creating a single word that means 'as light as a feather'.
What is the noun hidden inside bleischwer?
It comes from das Blei (lead) and schwer (heavy). Together, they form bleischwer (heavy as lead). Note that while English often uses 'as... as' comparisons, German prefers these compact, highly visual compound adjectives.
Since Feder and Blei are nouns, why are they written with lowercase letters here?
When you combine a noun and an adjective to create an intensifying compound like federleicht or bleischwer, the new word functions completely as an adjective. Therefore, it takes lowercase formatting, just like any standard adjective.
Why does the verb ist come right after das Sofa? Shouldn't it go to the end of the clause because of Ich glaube?
If you used the conjunction dass (that), the verb would indeed go to the end: Ich glaube, dass das Sofa federleicht ist. However, it is very common in everyday German to drop dass and simply follow Ich glaube with a regular main clause where the verb stays in the second position.
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