Learn Hardcore German: Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche. - Such strong characters impress many readers, especially teenagers.

Solche means such ... / such ... as these/those and points to a type of thing, often with a demonstrative feel: Solche starken Figuren ≈ such strong characters (like these).

So on its own usually means so / that / this ... (degree) and focuses more on how strong they are:

Solche starken Figuren – such strong characters (of this kind)
So starke Figuren – characters that are so strong (very strong)

So solche classifies the kind, so emphasizes the degree.

Why is it solche starken Figuren and not solche starke Figuren?

Because of adjective ending rules after der‑words (words like dieser, jener, welcher, solcher).

Solche behaves like a der‑word.
After a der‑word, adjectives take weak endings.
In the nominative plural, the weak ending is -en.

So the pattern is:

solche (der‑word form for nominative plural)
starken (weak adjective ending -en in nominative plural)
Figuren (plural noun)

Therefore: solche starken Figuren, not solche starke Figuren.

What case is solche starken Figuren, and why?

Solche starken Figuren is nominative plural.

Reason: It is the subject of the sentence – the thing doing the action.

Wer oder was beeindruckt? (Who or what impresses?)
→ Solche starken Figuren.

Because it’s the subject, it must be in the nominative case, hence solche starken Figuren (nominative plural).

What case is viele Leser, and why?

Viele Leser is accusative plural.

Reason: It is the direct object – the thing being impressed.

Wen oder was beeindrucken solche starken Figuren?
(Whom or what do such strong characters impress?)
→ viele Leser.

In German, the direct object takes the accusative, so viele Leser is accusative plural.

Why is there no article before viele Leser?

Because viele Leser means many readers in an indefinite, general sense.

With no article: viele Leser = many readers (in general)
With a definite article: die vielen Leser = the many readers (a specific group already known from context)

In English we also say many readers, not the many readers unless we mean a particular group. German works similarly here.

Why is beeindrucken (plural) used and not beeindruckt (singular)?

The verb agrees with the subject in person and number.

Subject: solche starken Figuren → plural (multiple characters)
So the verb must also be plural: beeindrucken.

If the subject were singular, it would be:

Eine so starke Figur beeindruckt viele Leser.
(A character that is so strong impresses many readers.)

Beeindrucken is present tense, 3rd person plural.

Why is Figuren plural and what is its gender?

The noun is die Figur (feminine singular), meaning figure, character (in a story).

Singular: die Figur
Plural: die Figuren

In the sentence we talk about more than one character, so we need the plural Figuren. The -en ending is the regular plural form for many feminine nouns.

Why does starken end in -en, but viele ends in -e?

They follow different patterns:

starken
- Comes after a der‑word (solche)
- After a der‑word, adjectives take weak endings.
- In nominative plural, that weak ending is -en → starken.
viele
- There is no article or der‑word in front.
- With no article, adjectives/determiners take strong endings.
- In nominative/accusative plural for all genders, the strong ending is -e → viele.

So:

solche starken Figuren (der‑word + weak adjective)
viele Leser (no article + strong ending on viele)

Why is there a comma before besonders Jugendliche?

Besonders Jugendliche is an additional, parenthetical piece of information specifying a subgroup of viele Leser.

The comma separates this extra information from the main clause:

Main statement: Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken viele Leser.
Extra specification: besonders Jugendliche – especially young people.

The comma is used to mark this as a separate, emphasized element.
You could also write Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken viele Leser besonders, Jugendliche., but that would sound odd and unclear; the chosen position and comma clearly attach besonders Jugendliche to viele Leser.

Why is there no article before Jugendliche in besonders Jugendliche?

Here Jugendliche means young people / teenagers in general, so it is used in an indefinite plural sense without an article:

besonders Jugendliche = especially (young) people, especially teenagers

If you add a definite article, you get a more specific group:

besonders die Jugendlichen = especially the young people (a group already known from context)

Grammatically, Jugendliche is an adjective used as a noun (a substantivised adjective).
With an article: die Jugendlichen
Without article (plural, general): Jugendliche

What is the grammar of Jugendliche here?

Jugendliche is originally an adjective (jugendlich = youthful), but it is used as a noun to mean young person / teenager.

Patterns:

Singular:
- der Jugendliche (male)
- die Jugendliche (female)
Plural:
- die Jugendlichen (all genders, with article)
- Jugendliche (plural without article, in a general sense)

In the sentence, Jugendliche is:

plural
accusative (it belongs with viele Leser as part of the object)
without article, in a general sense: especially (young) people

Could the sentence also be Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken besonders viele Leser? What changes?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but the emphasis shifts.

Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche.
→ Focus: Among those many readers, especially young people are impressed.
Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken besonders viele Leser.
→ Focus: A particularly large number of readers are impressed (no special mention of young people).

So the original sentence highlights which kind of readers (especially young ones).
The alternative highlights how many readers (especially many).

Can I change the word order to Viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche, werden von solchen starken Figuren beeindruckt? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s absolutely correct, just a different structure:

Viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche, werden von solchen starken Figuren beeindruckt.

Changes:

You use the passive voice:
- beeindrucken (active) → werden ... beeindruckt (passive)
The subject becomes Viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche, and solche starken Figuren moves into a von + Dative phrase.
Emphasis shifts slightly to the readers as the topic.

Both sentences are fine; they just present the same content from different angles:

Active: Solche starken Figuren beeindrucken viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche.
Passive: Viele Leser, besonders Jugendliche, werden von solchen starken Figuren beeindruckt.