Breakdown of Das Ergebnis hat uns sehr enttäuscht.
sehr
very
haben
to have
das Ergebnis
the result
enttäuschen
to disappoint
Questions & Answers about Das Ergebnis hat uns sehr enttäuscht.
Why doesn't the past participle enttäuscht start with ge-?
The verb enttäuschen (to disappoint) starts with the prefix ent-. In German, verbs with inseparable prefixes (such as ent-, be-, ver-, or er-) do not get a ge- added to them when forming the past participle. They just keep their original prefix.
Could I use viel instead of sehr here to say it disappointed us 'a lot'?
No, you should use sehr. English speakers often want to use viel (much or a lot) to describe how much something affects them, but in German, you must use sehr to express the intensity of emotions or states, like being disappointed, liking something, or hoping.
Is uns here in the accusative or dative case?
It is in the accusative case. The verb enttäuschen takes a direct object, meaning the person being disappointed is in the accusative. While uns looks exactly the same in both accusative and dative, it is important to remember it is accusative here so you get it right when using other pronouns, like mich (me) or ihn (him).
Could I write Das Ergebnis enttäuschte uns sehr instead?
Yes, you can! That uses the simple past tense (Präteritum) instead of the conversational past (Perfekt) shown in the example. While hat ... enttäuscht is much more common in everyday spoken German, enttäuschte sounds more formal and is perfectly natural in written reports, news, or literature.
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