Breakdown of Bisher hat sich niemand beschwert.
haben
to have
niemand
no one
sich beschweren
to complain (make a complaint)
bisher
so far, until now
Questions & Answers about Bisher hat sich niemand beschwert.
Why is hat the second word in the sentence instead of coming after niemand?
Bisher (so far/until now) is a temporal adverb occupying the first position in the sentence. In German main clauses, the conjugated verb (hat) must come in the second position. This pushes the subject (niemand) later into the sentence. This is the exact same V2 word order rule that applies to the simultaneity connectors you are learning in this lesson, like inzwischen and währenddessen.
Why does the reflexive pronoun sich come before the subject niemand?
When the subject is a personal pronoun (like er or ich), it must come before the reflexive pronoun (e.g., Bisher hat er sich beschwert). However, when the subject is a noun or an indefinite pronoun like niemand or jemand, the reflexive pronoun can comfortably sit right after the conjugated verb. You could also say Bisher hat niemand sich beschwert, but putting sich first flows more naturally and is very common.
The English translation doesn't use a reflexive pronoun. Why is sich here?
The German verb for 'to complain' is sich beschweren. It is strictly a reflexive verb, meaning it requires a reflexive pronoun even though its English equivalent does not. Because the subject niemand takes third-person singular conjugation, the matching reflexive pronoun is sich.
Could I use the simple past tense (beschwerte) here instead of the perfect tense (hat ... beschwert)?