Breakdown of Ausgerechnet die Treppe ist spiegelglatt und die Wand ist steinhart!
sein
to be
und
and
die Wand
the wall
die Treppe
the stairs
ausgerechnet
of all things
spiegelglatt
mirror-smooth
steinhart
rock-hard
Questions & Answers about Ausgerechnet die Treppe ist spiegelglatt und die Wand ist steinhart!
How do the adjectives spiegelglatt and steinhart work here?
They are intensifying adjective compounds made by combining a noun and an adjective. spiegelglatt combines der Spiegel (the mirror) and glatt (smooth or slippery) to mean "as smooth as a mirror". steinhart combines der Stein (the stone or rock) and hart (hard) to mean "rock-hard". This is a colorful, native-sounding way to emphasize an adjective instead of just using sehr (very).
For "smooth as glass", why does German use Spiegel (mirror) instead of Glas in spiegelglatt?
Comparisons often differ between languages! While English uses "glass" to describe something perfectly smooth, German uses "mirror" (spiegelglatt). However, German does use glass for clarity, such as in the intensifying compound glasklar (crystal clear).
Why is ausgerechnet translated as "of all things" here?
ausgerechnet is a highly common adverb used to express frustration, irony, or surprise that something happened in the worst possible way. It translates perfectly to "of all things," "of all places," or "of all people." Here, the speaker is annoyed that it is specifically the stairs—the worst place to slip—that are slippery.
Why doesn't the verb ist come immediately after ausgerechnet?
In a German main clause, the conjugated verb must be in the second position. Here, Ausgerechnet die Treppe functions together as a single, inseparable block of information occupying the first position, so the verb ist correctly takes the second position.
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