Learn Hardcore German: Der Psychologe erklärt ruhig, dass anonyme Kommentare oft weniger emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche. - The psychologist calmly explains that anonymous comments often seem less emotional than honest conversations.

Der Psychologe erklärt ruhig ...
The psychologist explains calmly … (subject)
Ich sehe den Psychologen.
I see the psychologist. (object → accusative)
Ich helfe dem Psychologen.
I help the psychologist. (indirect object → dative)

So der is correct here because der Psychologe is the one performing the action.

What is ruhig doing here? Is it an adjective or an adverb, and what exactly does it mean?

In Der Psychologe erklärt ruhig, …, ruhig functions adverbially: it describes how he explains – calmly.

As an adjective, ruhig can describe a noun:
- ein ruhiger Psychologe = a calm psychologist
As an adverb, it describes a verb:
- Er erklärt ruhig. = He explains calmly.

German often uses the same form for adjectives and adverbs. There is no special adverb ending like English -ly; context shows the function.

Here, ruhig modifies erklärt, so it is adverbial in meaning: He explains in a calm manner.

Why is there a comma before dass?

The comma marks the beginning of a subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction dass.

Structure:

Main clause: Der Psychologe erklärt ruhig,
Subordinate clause: dass anonyme Kommentare oft weniger emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche.

In standard German, you must put a comma before most subordinating conjunctions, such as:

dass (that)
weil (because)
wenn (if/when)
ob (whether/if)
als (when, in the past)

So the comma is required by German punctuation rules.

What is the difference between dass and das here, and how can I remember which one to use?

In this sentence you need dass with double s, because it is a conjunction introducing a content clause:

… erklärt, dass anonyme Kommentare … wirken.
= explains that anonymous comments … seem.

das with a single s is not a conjunction; it can be:

the neuter article: das Kind (the child)
a demonstrative pronoun: das ist gut (that is good)
a relative pronoun: das Buch, das ich lese (the book that/which I’m reading)

A quick check:
If you can replace it with that (introducing a clause) in English, you almost always need dass:

er sagt, dass … → he says that …

You cannot replace the dass here with dieses / jenes / welches, so it’s the conjunction dass, not das.

Why does the verb wirken go to the end of the clause dass anonyme Kommentare oft weniger emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche?

Because dass introduces a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses the finite verb moves to the end of the clause.

Word order pattern:

Main clause: Anonyme Kommentare wirken oft weniger emotional.
(verb in 2nd position: wirken)
Subordinate clause with dass:
dass anonyme Kommentare oft weniger emotional wirken
(verb at the end: wirken)

General rule:

Main clause:
Verb in 2nd position (V2)
Subordinate clause (with dass, weil, wenn, ob, etc.):
Conjunction – … – finite verb at the end

That is exactly what you see here.

Can the word order inside the dass-clause be changed, for example moving oft?

Yes, there is some flexibility, especially with adverbs like oft. Neutral, natural word order is:

dass anonyme Kommentare oft weniger emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche.

You could also say:

dass anonyme Kommentare weniger emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche, und zwar oft. (but this adds a slight emphasis or nuance)
dass anonyme Kommentare weniger oft emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche. (this changes the meaning: less often emotional, not less emotional)

So:

oft before weniger emotional → they often appear less emotional (frequency of the situation)
weniger oft emotional → they are emotional less often (frequency of being emotional)

The original is the most natural and clear version for the intended meaning.

What exactly does wirken mean here, and why not use sein or scheinen?

In this context, wirken means to appear, to come across, or to have a certain effect on others.

anonyme Kommentare wirken weniger emotional
= anonymous comments seem / come across as / appear less emotional.

Nuances:

sein (to be) would sound more absolute:
anonyme Kommentare sind weniger emotional = they are less emotional (as a fact).
scheinen (to seem) is close in meaning to wirken, but:
- scheinen focuses on an impression that might be deceptive.
- wirken strongly suggests the effect on the observer.

So wirken nicely expresses: they may be emotional, but they give the impression of being less emotional.

Why is there no article before anonyme Kommentare and ehrliche Gespräche?

Because in German you can talk about things in general using plural nouns without any article:

Anonyme Kommentare wirken …
= Anonymous comments (in general) seem …
Ehrliche Gespräche sind wichtig.
= Honest conversations (in general) are important.

This is similar to English Cats are cute (no article) for a general statement.

If you add an article, the meaning changes:

Die anonymen Kommentare wirken …
= The anonymous comments (specific ones we have in mind) seem …
Die ehrlichen Gespräche
= The honest conversations (these particular ones, not in general).

So the lack of article here signals a general statement about anonymous comments and honest conversations.

Why do the adjectives end in -e: anonyme Kommentare, ehrliche Gespräche?

Because these are plural nouns without any article, in the nominative case, and in this pattern, adjectives take the ending -e.

Pattern:

Case: nominative plural
Article: no article
Adjective ending: -e

Examples:

anonyme Kommentare
ehrliche Gespräche
teure Autos (expensive cars)
freundliche Menschen (friendly people)

In the sentence:

anonyme Kommentare is the subject of wirken → nominative plural.
ehrliche Gespräche is being compared in the same case (nominative) after als.

So both adjectives correctly end in -e: anonyme, ehrliche.

Are anonyme Kommentare and ehrliche Gespräche both in the nominative case, even though one is after als?

Yes. After a comparison with als, the compared element generally stays in the same case as the first element.

Base structure:

Anonyme Kommentare wirken weniger emotional als ehrliche Gespräche.

Here:

anonyme Kommentare = subject → nominative plural
ehrliche Gespräche after als is being compared to the subject, so it is also in nominative plural.

Some learners expect an accusative after als, but that’s wrong in this type of comparison. Think:

Wer wirkt weniger emotional?
– anonyme Kommentare
– ehrliche Gespräche (in comparison)

Both answer wer? (nominative).

Why is it weniger emotional and not weniger emotionaler or emotionaler?

There are two main ways to form comparatives in German:

Normal comparative with -er:
- emotionaler als = more emotional than
Periphrastic comparative with mehr / weniger:
- mehr emotional als = more emotional than
- weniger emotional als = less emotional than

In this sentence, we are expressing less emotional, so we use:

weniger + basic form of the adjective
→ weniger emotional

weniger emotionaler is incorrect because you would be doubling the comparative:

weniger + emotionaler
(like "more more emotional" or "less more emotional")

Correct options would be:

weniger emotional als … (less emotional than …)
nicht so emotional wie … (not as emotional as …)
emotionaler als … (more emotional than …)

Here the focus is on less, so weniger emotional is right.

Why do we use als and not wie in weniger emotional wirken als ehrliche Gespräche?

In comparisons where something is more / less / greater / smaller than something else, German uses als, not wie.

Rule of thumb:

Komparativ + als
- größer als (bigger than)
- emotionaler als (more emotional than)
- weniger emotional als (less emotional than)
so … wie for equality:
- so emotional wie (as emotional as)
- genauso emotional wie (just as emotional as)

So:

weniger emotional als ehrliche Gespräche
= less emotional than honest conversations

Using wie here (weniger emotional wie) would be incorrect.

Could we say dass anonyme Kommentare oft weniger Emotionen zeigen als ehrliche Gespräche instead? What would be different?

You could say this, and it is grammatically correct, but the meaning shifts:

weniger emotional wirken
= to come across as less emotional; the impression they give is less emotional.
weniger Emotionen zeigen
= to show fewer emotions, suggesting that the content objectively contains fewer emotional expressions.

So the original sentence with wirken focuses on:

the subjective impression on the reader or listener
how they seem or feel emotionally

The alternative with Emotionen zeigen focuses more on:

the actual content and its explicit emotional expressions (e.g., fewer emotional words, less emotional language)

The original is more about perception, not counting emotions.

Why is the verb erklärt in the present tense, even though the statement sounds general?

German often uses the present tense (Präsens) for:

current actions
general truths or typical behavior
reported speech when the reporting is happening now

Here:

Der Psychologe erklärt ruhig, dass …
This describes what he is currently doing (in the situation being described).

The content of what he explains (dass anonyme Kommentare … wirken …) is indeed a general observation, and German very naturally expresses such general statements in the present tense:

Wasser kocht bei 100 Grad. (Water boils at 100 degrees.)
Anonyme Kommentare wirken oft weniger emotional. (Anonymous comments often seem less emotional.)

So present tense is both grammatically correct and stylistically natural here.