Breakdown of Zwischen zwei Tellern liegt der stärkste Käse, den ich kenne.
ich
I
zwei
two
liegen
to lie
der Teller
the plate
der Käse
the cheese
kennen
to know
stark
strong
zwischen
between
den
that
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching German grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Zwischen zwei Tellern liegt der stärkste Käse, den ich kenne.
What role does Zwischen zwei Tellern play in the sentence?
It’s a locative adverbial (a prepositional phrase) that tells you where something is. In English it corresponds to “between two plates.”
How does fronting Zwischen zwei Tellern affect the word order of the main clause?
Because you’ve placed that phrase in first position, German requires the finite verb (liegt) in second position. The subject (der stärkste Käse) then comes after the verb. That inversion is typical whenever you begin with an adverbial or other element that isn’t the subject.
Why is zwischen followed by zwei Tellern in the dative plural, and why does Teller take the ending -n?
“Zwischen” is one of those two‑way prepositions that takes the dative when describing a static location (where something lies). In German, the dative plural almost always adds an -n to the noun (unless it already ends in -n), so Teller → Tellern.
Why is the subject der stärkste Käse marked with der, and why does stärkste end in -e?
Der is the definite article for a masculine noun in the nominative case. When you have a definite article, German uses the “weak” adjective declension. In the masculine nominative singular, that gives the ending -e on the adjective, hence stärkste.
How do you form the superlative of stark, and why is it der stärkste Käse here instead of der am stärksten Käse?
Base adjective: stark
Comparative: stärker
Attributive superlative (before a noun):
– without article: stärkster Käse (strong declension)
– with definite article: der stärkste Käse (weak declension)
You only use am stärksten in predicative or adverbial positions (e.g., Dieser Käse ist am stärksten.).
What is the function of den ich kenne, and why is the relative pronoun den in the accusative?
den ich kenne is a restrictive relative clause modifying Käse (“the cheese [that] I know”). Inside this clause, den stands for “cheese” as the object of kenne, so it takes the masculine singular accusative form den.
Why does the verb kenne appear at the end of the relative clause den ich kenne?
All German subordinate clauses—including relative clauses—move the finite verb to the very end. That’s why you see kenne at the end here.
Why is there a comma before den ich kenne?
German punctuation requires you to set off subordinate clauses (including relative clauses) with commas. The comma marks the boundary between the main clause and the relative clause.
Could you replace zwei Tellern with den beiden Tellern, and what difference in meaning would that make?
Yes.
- zwei Tellern = “two plates” (unspecified plates)
- den beiden Tellern = “the two plates” (two specific plates already known from context)
Why is liegt used instead of ist, and could you also use befindet sich?
liegt specifically conveys a physical resting position (lying between the plates). ist would simply mean “is” and is more general. You could also say befindet sich (“is located”), which is a bit more formal but still correct.