Learn Hardcore German: Ich habe ein großes Zelt ausgeliehen, damit alle bequem darin schlafen können. - I have borrowed a big tent so that everyone can sleep comfortably in it.

Ich habe ein großes Zelt ausgeliehen.
This is the present perfect (Perfekt). It’s the most common way to talk about past actions in spoken German, similar to English “I have borrowed / I borrowed” in everyday speech.
Ich lieh ein großes Zelt aus.
This is the simple past (Präteritum) form of ausleihen. In modern German, this form is used mainly in writing, stories, and formal narratives, and not so much in everyday spoken language (except for a few very common verbs like sein, haben, können).
Ich leihe ein großes Zelt aus.
This is present tense: “I am borrowing / I borrow a big tent.” That would describe something happening now, not completed.

So ich habe ausgeliehen is the natural spoken-German way to say “I borrowed / I have borrowed” about a completed past action.

Why is the auxiliary verb haben used with ausgeliehen and not sein?

In German, the present perfect is formed with either haben or sein plus the past participle.

Rough rule:

sein is used with:
- verbs of motion or change of state (e.g. gehen, kommen, sterben)
- and where the verb describes a change of location or state of the subject
haben is used with:
- most other verbs, especially transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object)

ausleihen (“to lend/borrow”) is a transitive verb and does not describe a change of location/state of the subject in the grammatical sense.
You are performing an action on an object (ein großes Zelt), so it uses haben:

Ich habe ein Zelt ausgeliehen. ✅
Ich bin ein Zelt ausgeliehen. ❌ (ungrammatical)

Why is the verb ausleihen split into ausgeliehen here? Is ausleihen separable or inseparable?

ausleihen is a separable prefix verb formed from leihen (to lend/borrow) + the separable prefix aus-.

In the infinitive: ausleihen (written together)
In the present tense, main clause: prefix moves to the end
- Ich leihe ein Zelt aus.
In the perfect tense, the past participle is formed as:
- aus-
  - ge-
    - leih
      - -en → ausgeliehen

So in the sentence:

Ich habe ein großes Zelt ausgeliehen …
- habe = auxiliary
- ausgeliehen = past participle of ausleihen

Even though ausleihen is separable in finite forms like ich leihe … aus, its participle is fused into one word ausgeliehen.

Why is it ein großes Zelt and not einen großen Zelt or ein großer Zelt?

You need to match article, adjective ending, case, and gender:

Zelt is neuter (das Zelt).
It is the direct object of the verb ausleihen, so it’s in the accusative case.
Indefinite article, neuter, accusative is ein (same form as nominative neuter).
After ein in accusative neuter, the adjective ending is -es → großes.

So we get:

ein großes Zelt = indefinite article, neuter, accusative

The other options are wrong because:

einen großen Zelt ❌
- einen and -en are masculine accusative forms, but Zelt is not masculine.
ein großer Zelt ❌
- großer is a nominative masculine ending, not neuter accusative.

What exactly does damit mean here, and how is it different from um … zu or so dass?

All three can express purpose/result, but they’re used differently.

In this sentence:

damit alle bequem darin schlafen können
literally: “so that everyone can sleep comfortably in it.”

damit introduces a finite clause (with a full verb and its own subject):

damit
- subject
  - …
    - finite verb at the end
damit alle … schlafen können

Compare:

um … zu
- infinitive
- Used when the subject of both clauses is the same.
- Example:
  - Ich habe ein Zelt ausgeliehen, um bequem darin zu schlafen.
  - Subject in both parts: ich.
- You cannot say:
  - *Ich habe ein Zelt ausgeliehen, um alle bequem darin zu schlafen. ❌
    because ich ≠ alle.
damit
- Used when the subject can be the same or different.
- Takes a full clause with a conjugated verb at the end.
- Works fine with alle as subject:
  - … damit alle bequem darin schlafen können.
so dass / sodass
- Usually expresses result, sometimes similar to “so that / so”.
- E.g. Ich habe ein großes Zelt ausgeliehen, sodass alle bequem darin schlafen können.
- Slight nuance: this sounds more like a consequence than a clear intended purpose.

In your sentence, damit nicely expresses purpose/intention: you borrowed the tent in order that everyone can sleep comfortably in it.

Why does damit send the verb to the end: … schlafen können? What’s the word order rule?

damit is a subordinating conjunction (like weil, dass, obwohl). These conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause, and in such clauses the finite verb goes to the end.

Inside the damit clause:

Subject: alle
Adverb: bequem
Adverbial pronoun: darin
Main lexical verb: schlafen
Finite (conjugated) modal verb: können

Sequence:

damit alle bequem darin schlafen können

Because of the modal verb können, you get a verb cluster at the end:

lexical infinitive schlafen
finite modal können (last position)

So the typical pattern is:

damit
- [other elements]
  - lexical infinitive
    - modal finite verb

Why is it alle alone here, and not alle Leute or alle können bequem darin schlafen?

German often uses alle by itself when the context is clear and it refers to all the people involved in the situation.

damit alle bequem darin schlafen können
= “so that everyone can sleep comfortably in it.”

You could say:

damit alle Leute bequem darin schlafen können
or
damit alle Personen bequem darin schlafen können

but that sounds more explicit and slightly heavier. Native speakers usually just say alle here when it’s clear they mean “everyone (we’re talking about).”

Note also:

alle here is the subject of schlafen können.
It’s in the nominative plural, with no article needed.

What is darin exactly, and how is it different from in ihm or drin?

darin is a da- compound: da + in → darin.

It behaves like a pronoun plus preposition, and here it replaces in dem Zelt:

in dem Zelt → darin
literally “in it” (referring to the tent)

Differences:

darin
- Neutral, standard, slightly formal/neutral.
- Common in both spoken and written German.
- Ich habe ein Zelt ausgeliehen, damit alle bequem darin schlafen können. ✅
drin
- Colloquial, short form of darinnen / darin.
- Very common in speech:
  - … damit alle bequem drin schlafen können. (more informal)
in ihm
- Literally “in him/it”.
- Grammatically also possible:
  - … damit alle bequem in ihm schlafen können.
- However, for inanimate things (like a tent) darin is far more idiomatic; in ihm sounds a bit unusual here in everyday language.

So the most natural choice in this sentence is darin.

Why is the adverb bequem placed before darin: alle bequem darin schlafen können? Could I move it?

Word order in the middle field (between the conjunction and the verb cluster at the end) is fairly flexible, but there are preferences.

The given order:

damit alle bequem darin schlafen können

Follows a natural pattern:

Subject: alle
Manner adverb: bequem (how?)
Place adverb / locative pronoun: darin (where?)
Verb cluster: schlafen können

German often prefers:

manner → place → time
(though this is not an iron rule)

Other possible orders:

damit alle darin bequem schlafen können.
This is also acceptable and understandable.

The original word order alle bequem darin schlafen können sounds very natural and slightly more neutral; putting darin before bequem emphasizes the “inside the tent” location a bit more.

Why does the sentence use können? Is it necessary, or could I just say … damit alle bequem darin schlafen?

können is a modal verb meaning “can / be able to.”

damit alle bequem darin schlafen können
= “so that everyone can sleep comfortably in it.”

Without können:

… damit alle bequem darin schlafen.

This is still grammatically possible, but it sounds slightly odd here. The idea in German (as in English) is usually expressed with ability or possibility:

“I borrowed a big tent so that everyone can sleep comfortably in it.”

If you omit können, it sounds more like a simple statement of what they do there (not what they are able/allowed to do). Native speakers almost always include können in this kind of purpose clause.

Why is it schlafen können at the end, and not können schlafen or some other order?

In subordinate clauses with a modal verb, German normally places:

The lexical (main) verb in the infinitive first
The finite modal verb (conjugated) last

So the typical order is:

… schlafen können.
… essen müssen.
… kommen dürfen.

Why?

The finite verb (the one that’s conjugated for person/number) must go in the final position in a subordinate clause.
The other infinitive(s) appear before it in the verb cluster.

So:

damit alle bequem darin schlafen können ✅
damit alle bequem darin können schlafen ❌ (ungrammatical)

Why is the whole sentence in the Perfekt (habe ausgeliehen) even though in English we might say simply “I borrowed …”?

German and English use their past tenses differently in everyday speech.

In modern spoken German:

Perfekt (present perfect) is the default past tense in conversation for most verbs:
- Ich habe ein Zelt ausgeliehen.
- Gestern habe ich Pizza gegessen.
Präteritum (simple past) is mostly used:
- in written language (stories, newspapers)
- with a few very common verbs in speech:
  war, hatte, konnte, musste, etc.

In English, we often use the simple past (“I borrowed”) in everyday speech, and the present perfect (“I have borrowed”) sounds slightly different in nuance. In German, that nuance is much weaker in conversation; Perfekt simply functions as the normal past.

So Ich habe ein großes Zelt ausgeliehen … is the most natural way to say “I borrowed a big tent …” in everyday spoken German.