Word
Die beiden waren damals unglaublich verliebt.
Meaning
The two of them were incredibly in love back then.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Die beiden waren damals unglaublich verliebt.
sein
to be
damals
back then
beide
both
unglaublich
unbelievable
Questions & Answers about Die beiden waren damals unglaublich verliebt.
Why use Die beiden instead of Die zwei here?
While both can translate to "the two of them", die beiden is the natural choice when referring to a specific, established pair of people or things, much like "both of them". Die zwei feels slightly more focused on the literal numerical count.
Why is beiden not capitalized here even though it seems to act like a noun?
In German, indefinite pronouns and numerals like beide (both), alles (everything), and viele (many) are typically written in lowercase, even when they stand alone and act as the subject of the sentence.
Could I use dann instead of damals to mean "then"?
No. The word dann means "then" in the sense of "next" or "after that" in a sequence of events. When "then" refers to "at that specific time in the past" or "back then", you must use damals (or sometimes da).
How would the sentence change if they fell in love back then, rather than just being in love?
You would need the reflexive verb sich verlieben (to fall in love) instead of the state described by verliebt sein (to be in love). The sentence would become: Die beiden haben sich damals unglaublich verliebt.