Video 7: deshalb vs. sodass & Coordinating vs. Subordinating Connectors

Source: ~2.5 hour recorded live Zoom class (seventh session of the B1 batch). Long stretches are silence/dead air (recording left running) or pure logistics/roll-call and are skipped below. Approximate topic timestamps:

• Silence / dead air / roll call setup (00:00–04:00) — skipped, no content
• Pre-listening setup: building a three-column note-taking grid (was/was kann man damit machen/warum finden sie es gut) for a radio call-in listening exercise, page references in the course book (04:00–07:00) — skipped, logistics
• Listening exercise audio: a radio call-in show "Modernes Leben" — four callers describing gadgets that make their lives easier (fingerprint door lock, standing/sitting desk, cargo bike, language assistant, wireless Bluetooth headphones, silent disco) (07:00–13:00)
• Answer-checking/discussion of the listening exercise notes, column by column (19:00–25:50) — mostly answer-checking, includes vocabulary clarification for unterhalten
• New grammar topic introduction: deshalb recap (verb-second) and its synonym sodass/so dass (verb-final), example sentences built together as a class (26:00–48:00)
• Q&A on deshalb / darum / damit / sodass — formality and usage differences (47:55–49:00)
• Long silence/dead air while students wrote notes (49:00–55:00) — skipped, no content
• Punctuation rule for deshalb/sodass (comma vs. full stop) (55:39–56:27)
• Coordinating vs. subordinating conjunctions explained, plus adjective vs. adverb distinction, prompted by a student question (51:43–54:52) — note: this segment is presented after the punctuation rule above in the transcript timestamps but logically belongs with the connector discussion
• Long silence / dead air to end of available transcript (56:47–02:28:45) — skipped, no content

Topics Covered

• Listening vocabulary: smart-home and modern-gadget terms (Fingerabdruck, Steh-Sitz-Tisch, Lastenfahrrad, Sprachassistent, Funkkopfhörer/Bluetooth-Kopfhörer, silent disco)
• unterhalten — two meanings: "to entertain" and "to have a conversation/chat"
• deshalb ("that's why") recap — verb stays in second position
• sodass / so dass as a B1-level synonym of deshalb — same meaning ("that's why"), but as a subordinating connector it sends the conjugated verb to the end of the clause
• Other synonyms of deshalb: darum, damit (flagged as not interchangeable here), deswegen
• The emphatic so ... dass construction ("so [adjective/adverb] that...") — distinguished from sodass ("that's why") even though both can be glossed loosely with "so" in English
• Comma vs. full stop with deshalb/sodass
• Coordinating conjunctions (verb stays second, e.g. und/aber/oder) vs. subordinating conjunctions (verb goes to the end, e.g. weil/dass/wenn) — deshalb is coordinating, sodass is subordinating
• Adjective vs. adverb: adjectives describe a noun, adverbs describe a verb (intensity/manner)

Listening Exercise: "Modernes Leben" Call-In Show

A radio-show listening exercise: callers phone in describing a modern gadget/development that makes their life easier. Notes were taken in three columns (was = what device; was kann man damit machen = what can you do with it; warum finden sie es gut = why they like it).

• Ich habe gerade eine neue Tür bekommen, die kann man mit Fingerprint, also mit dem Fingerabdruck, öffnen. → I just got a new door that you can open with a fingerprint. Caller likes it because he used to forget his keys (früher habe ich manchmal meinen Schlüssel vergessen); now the key is "always with him" (der Schlüssel ist sozusagen immer dabei) since it's his fingerprint, and he doesn't have to carry anything — useful when jogging (ich habe keine Tasche dabei und keinen Schlüssel, der mich stört).
• Meine Firma hat vor einem Jahr für alle Mitarbeiter Steh-Sitz-Tische gekauft. → My company bought standing/sitting desks for all employees a year ago. Caller was skeptical at first (am Anfang habe ich gedacht, so ein Unsinn — "what nonsense") but now doesn't want to give it up (jetzt möchte ich auf keinen Fall darauf verzichten) — he's less tired in the evenings and has no more back pain (keine Rückenschmerzen mehr).
• Wir haben uns gerade zusammen mit Freunden ein Lastenfahrrad gekauft. → We just bought a cargo bike together with friends. Used for shopping (zum Einkaufen) — more cargo space than needed, no car required; it's cheaper than a car and good for the environment and health (billiger als ein Auto / gut für Gesundheit und Umwelt). Caller also has a Sprachassistent (language/voice assistant) — likes that she can just talk and "the thing does what I want" (ich spreche einfach und das Ding macht, was ich will); it plays her music and can tell her things (es kann mir was erzählen); "you can almost have a conversation with it" (man kann sich fast mit ihm unterhalten).
• Meine neuen Kopfhörer sind mit Bluetooth und haben eine tolle Qualität. → My new (wireless) headphones have Bluetooth and great quality. No more annoying cables (keine blöden Kabel mehr); you can dance with them — caller mentions going to a silent disco, explained in class: everyone wears their own headphones/microphone and chooses their own music, so people dance together but each person hears their own music (jeder hört seine eigene Musik).

unterhalten — two meanings

• Was bedeutet unterhalten? — clarified as having two senses: to chat / have a conversation and to entertain. In the language-assistant example (man kann sich fast mit ihm unterhalten), it means "you can almost have a conversation with it."

deshalb vs. sodass ("that's why")

Recap: deshalb means "that's why" and the verb stays in the second position (it is a coordinating connector). This was an A2-level topic, briefly revised.

New B1 point: sodass (also written so dass, separately) is a synonym of deshalb — it also means "that's why" — but it behaves differently:

• With sodass, you make a Nebensatz (subordinate clause), and in a Nebensatz the verb goes to the end.
• With deshalb, the verb stays at the second position.
• Rule given for converting a deshalb-sentence to a sodass-sentence: only the verb that was originally in second position moves to the end — any other verb that is already at the end (e.g. a participle in a perfect-tense construction) stays where it is.

Worked example pair:

• Ich habe viel geübt, deshalb habe ich die Prüfung bestanden. → I have practiced a lot, that's why I passed the exam. (deshalb + verb in second position: habe)
• Ich habe viel geübt, sodass ich die Prüfung bestanden habe. → I have practiced a lot, so that I passed the exam. (sodass + verb pushed to the end: habe)

Both versions are correct and mean the same thing — it's the student's choice which one to use, similar to choosing between weil and deshalb for "because"/"that's why" (the same underlying fact can be expressed either way, just reversing which clause states the cause and which states the result).

Second worked example pair:

• Es war kalt, deshalb konnte ich nicht spazieren gehen. → It was cold, that's why I couldn't go for a walk. (deshalb + verb second: konnte)
• Es war kalt, sodass ich nicht spazieren gehen konnte. → It was cold, so that I couldn't go for a walk. (sodass + verb at the end: konnte)

Warning: sodass is NOT English "so that" (purpose clause)

A key clarification: learners often mis-translate sodass as English "so that" in the sense of purpose ("I am learning German so that I can go to Germany"). That is a different grammar topic (purpose clauses, covered later — "we are gonna do it in chapter 5") and uses different German structures (e.g. damit + infinitive-style purpose clause). sodass in this lesson always means "that's why" / "as a result", not "in order that."

so ... dass (emphatic construction) — distinguished from sodass

When so is separated from dass and placed next to an adjective or adverb, it emphasizes the quality/intensity of that adjective/adverb — this is a different structure from the single connector sodass, even though both can loosely gloss with "so."

• Es war so kalt, dass ich nicht spazieren gehen konnte. → It was so cold that I couldn't go for a walk. (so sits right before the adjective kalt; dass starts its own clause with the verb konnte at the end.)
• Die Aussicht ist so schön, dass ich nicht nach Hause gehen will. → The view is so beautiful that I don't want to go home. (Vocabulary note: die Aussicht = view/scenic view, e.g. from a mountain; der Blick = glimpse/glance — a related but distinct word.)
• Teacher's test: trying to convert this into a deshalb-style "that's why" sentence does not work with the same meaning — "Die Aussicht ist schön, sodass ich nicht nach Hause gehen will" changes the sense; only "Die Aussicht ist schön, deshalb will ich nicht nach Hause gehen." ("The view is beautiful, that's why I don't want to go home.") correctly preserves "that's why" causality.
• Rule of thumb: when emphasizing a quality (too cold / so cold that..., so beautiful that...), use so + adjective/adverb ... dass, with the verb still pushed to the end of the dass-clause. This is not considered a difficult new structure — English makes similar "so ... that" sentences with the same logic.

Synonyms of deshalb and formality notes

Class question: when to use deshalb, darum, damit, deswegen — "there are multiple of them."

• All of deshalb, darum, deswegen are synonyms and give the same meaning ("that's why"); any one of them can be used.
• deshalb and darum are used commonly in everyday/informal speech.
• In writing, darum, deswegen, and damit are described as "a little formal" — damit in particular is called out as different and cannot be used as a plain substitute for deshalb (it has its own distinct purpose-clause usage, not covered in depth here).
• Practical recommendation: for day-to-day conversation use deshalb; reserve darum/deswegen/damit more for formal/written contexts (with damit reserved for its own separate grammar use).

Punctuation: comma vs. full stop with deshalb/sodass

• With most connectors (e.g. weil, dass), the two clauses are joined with a comma.
• With deshalb and sodass, you are also allowed to use a full stop instead of a comma and start a new sentence — "it's your choice, point or comma." This was flagged as a rule some learners may not already know.

Coordinating vs. Subordinating Conjunctions

Prompted by a student question about whether sodass is an adverb, the teacher clarified the conjunction categories:

• German connectors fall into two types: coordinating conjunctions (CoC) and subordinating conjunctions (SoC).
• A1-level coordinating conjunctions: und, aber, oder — with these, the verb stays in the second position.
• A2-level subordinating conjunctions: weil, dass, wenn — with these, the verb goes to the end.
• Rule of thumb to classify any connector: if the verb comes at the second position → coordinating conjunction; if the verb is at the end → subordinating conjunction.
• Applying this rule: deshalb keeps the verb at second position, so it is a coordinating conjunction (CoC). sodass sends the verb to the end, so it is a subordinating conjunction (SoC).
• Both deshalb and sodass are connectors and conjunctions — neither one is an adverb.

Adjective vs. adverb (side clarification)

To address the confusion about whether sodass might be an adverb, the teacher distinguished adjectives from adverbs:

• Adjective — gives more information about a noun.
  • Das Mädchen ist schön. → The girl is beautiful. (schön describes the noun Mädchen.)
• Adverb — gives more information about a verb (expresses manner or intensity of the action).
  • Es regnet stark. → It's raining heavily. (stark describes how it rains — the verb regnet.)
  • Ich laufe schnell. → I run fast. (schnell describes how the running happens — the verb laufe.)

Notes & Tips

• sodass ≠ "so that" (purpose). This is the most important trap flagged in this class: sodass means "that's why"/"as a result," not "in order that" — purpose clauses are a separate topic for later.
• deshalb is safer for speaking; sodass is more written/less common in everyday speech ("I would not suggest you to use sodass for speaking"). For the Schreiben exam task, pick whichever connector you have the strongest command of rather than trying to force in every synonym — examiners reward correct usage, not variety for its own sake.
• Quick word-order check: to tell whether a connector is coordinating or subordinating, just look at where the verb sits — second position = coordinating (deshalb, darum, deswegen, und, aber, oder), end position = subordinating (sodass, weil, dass, wenn).
• damit is not a plain deshalb substitute — it has its own separate grammar role; don't swap it in for "that's why" without checking.
• so ... dass (emphatic, with an adjective/adverb in between) is structurally different from the single connector sodass, even though both can superficially look like "so...that" in English — check whether you're emphasizing a quality (so ... dass) or stating a result (sodass = deshalb).
• deshalb/sodass allow a full stop instead of a comma between the two clauses — unlike most other connectors, which require a comma.