Learn Hardcore German: Die Kinder flüstern im Wohnzimmer, damit der Hund weiter schläft. - The children whisper in the living room so that the dog keeps sleeping.

You cannot say in Wohnzimmer, because Wohnzimmer is a noun and needs an article here. German almost always requires an article with singular countable nouns, unlike English.

Why is there a comma before damit?

In German, damit introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause expressing purpose).

Rule: Every subordinate clause in German is separated from the main clause by a comma.

Main clause: Die Kinder flüstern im Wohnzimmer,
Subordinate clause: damit der Hund weiter schläft.

That’s why there is a comma there.

Why does the verb go to the end in damit der Hund weiter schläft?

In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb (the conjugated verb form) goes to the end of the clause.

Main clause word order: Die Kinder flüstern im Wohnzimmer.
→ verb in 2nd position (flüstern)
Subordinate clause word order: …, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
→ finite verb at the end (schläft)

This verb-final order is typical for clauses introduced by dass, weil, wenn, obwohl, damit, etc.

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

damit expresses purpose, similar to English “so that / in order that”.

Die Kinder flüstern, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
→ The children are whispering so that the dog keeps sleeping.

damit vs um … zu:

um … zu is used when the subject of both actions is the same:
- Die Kinder flüstern, um den Hund nicht zu wecken.
  (The children whisper in order not to wake the dog.)
  – Same subject: die Kinder do both “whisper” and “not wake”.
damit is used when the subject can be different (and often is):
- Die Kinder flüstern, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
  The children whisper; the dog sleeps. Different subjects.

You must use damit (not um … zu) if the subject in the purpose clause is different.

Why is it damit der Hund weiter schläft, and not damit der Hund schläft weiter?

Two things are happening:

Subordinate clause verb position
In a subordinate clause, the finite verb (schläft) goes to the end of the clause. So schläft must be last.
Placement of weiter
weiter here is an adverb meaning “further, on, still” and combines with schlafen to mean “to keep sleeping / continue to sleep”.
In a clause-final verb cluster like this, weiter comes before the finite verb:
- Subordinate clause: …, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
- Comparable main clause: Der Hund schläft weiter.

So in a subordinate clause the cluster is weiter schläft at the end, not schläft weiter.

Could you also write damit der Hund weiterschläft as one word?

Yes, weiterschlafen exists as a separable verb (“to continue sleeping”), and you can say:

…, damit der Hund weiterschläft.

Both are possible:

weiter schläft → adverb + verb
weiterschläft → separable verb form

In practice, both are used. Writing weiterschläft emphasizes it more as a fixed verb (“go on sleeping”), while weiter schläft feels a bit more transparent (“sleeps further / continues to sleep”), but there’s no big meaning difference here.

What does weiter add to the meaning? Could I just say damit der Hund schläft?

Yes, you could say:

…, damit der Hund schläft.

But that changes the nuance:

damit der Hund schläft
→ so that the dog sleeps (at all / falls asleep)
damit der Hund weiter schläft
→ so that the dog keeps sleeping (he is already asleep, and they don’t want to wake him)

So weiter adds the idea of continuation (still, further, continuing).

Why is it der Hund and not den Hund? What case is that?

Der Hund here is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the verb schläft in the subordinate clause.

Subject: der Hund
Verb: schläft

You would use den Hund (accusative) if the dog were the object, e.g.:

Die Kinder wecken den Hund.
(The children wake the dog.) – den Hund is the object.

In your sentence, the dog is doing the action (sleeping), so it’s nominative: der Hund.

Why is it Die Kinder flüstern and not Die Kinder flüstert?

Kinder is plural (children), so the verb must also be plural.

Conjugation of flüstern in the present tense:

ich flüstere
du flüsterst
er/sie/es flüstert
wir flüstern
ihr flüstert
sie flüstern

Die Kinder = sie (they) → sie flüstern.
So Die Kinder flüstern is the correct agreement.

What’s the difference between flüstern and just leise sprechen?

Both indicate quiet speech, but:

flüstern = to whisper
→ very quiet, using mainly breath, often barely audible.
leise sprechen = to speak quietly/softly
→ still normal speech, just at a low volume.

In your sentence, flüstern emphasizes that the children are being especially quiet to avoid waking the dog.

Can I move im Wohnzimmer to another position, like in English?

Yes, im Wohnzimmer is an adverbial (a place phrase) and is quite flexible:

All of these are grammatical, with small differences in emphasis:

Die Kinder flüstern im Wohnzimmer, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
(Neutral, very natural)
Im Wohnzimmer flüstern die Kinder, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
(Emphasizes the location: In the living room, the children whisper…)
Die Kinder flüstern, damit der Hund im Wohnzimmer weiter schläft.
(Now the phrase modifies where the dog is sleeping.)

The default, most neutral version is the original: Die Kinder flüstern im Wohnzimmer, …

Why are Kinder, Wohnzimmer, and Hund capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of position in the sentence.

die Kinder – children
das Wohnzimmer – living room
der Hund – dog

This is a standard spelling rule and one of the big visual differences from English, where nouns are usually not capitalized in the middle of a sentence.

Why is the tense just simple present? In English you’d often say “are whispering” and “is sleeping”.

German Präsens (simple present) covers both:

simple present: “the children whisper”
present progressive: “the children are whispering”

So:

Die Kinder flüstern can mean either:
- “The children whisper” (habitual)
- “The children are whispering” (right now)

Context usually makes the meaning clear. German doesn’t need a progressive form here, so flüstern and schläft are perfectly natural.

Is there a difference between damit and so dass in a sentence like this?

Yes, there is a nuance:

damit → purpose/intention (“so that, in order that”)
- Die Kinder flüstern, damit der Hund weiter schläft.
  The children intentionally whisper to achieve the result that the dog keeps sleeping.
so dass → typically result/consequence (“so that / with the result that”)
- Die Kinder sprechen sehr leise, so dass der Hund weiter schläft.
  They speak very quietly, with the result that the dog keeps sleeping (it might not be a conscious purpose).

In your sentence, damit is appropriate because their quiet whispering is clearly on purpose to avoid waking the dog.