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15
votes
2answers
178 views

Meaning of “Lars kam sich unendlich verlassen vor”

I'm reading Kleiner Eisbär, wohin fährst du? von Hans de Beer but I'm puzzled by this sentence: Lars kam sich unendlich verlassen vor. If verlassen is a reflexive verb as the word sich suggests, ...
8
votes
1answer
154 views

Using “mir” where it seems unnecessary?

Why is "mir" used in these sentences? "Ich bin mir sicher." - "I am positive." "Ich kann mir vorstellen ..." - "I can imagine ..." It doesn't appear in the translation. Also "Ich" looks ...
7
votes
1answer
309 views

How to use “sich”

I get confused each time I see sich in a sentence. I know it's used with reflexive verbs, but the problem is sometimes I cannot convince myself of the way it's used. Examples like: In der Presse ...
6
votes
3answers
168 views

Where to place “sich” in an elaborate sentence?

I've been studying German for some time and still I'm always unsure where to put the sich particle; this insecurity slows down my speech, in particular. Can somebody give a rule and an example with ...
6
votes
2answers
231 views

Why is it “mir ist übel” and not “ich bin übel”?

To express we feel nauseous we may say Mir ist übel. Mir ist schlecht. Mir ist schwindlig. What are the grammatical rules behind this? Why don't we say "Ich bin übel" when we say Ich bin ...
5
votes
2answers
167 views

Was “träumen” ever a reflexive verb?

This is another Yiddish-motivated question. I wonder if "träumen" was ever used in a reflexive construction, as in "es hat sich mir geträumt...". This is how the Yiddish phrase is constructed, except ...