0

Sentence: "Wenn Sie fertig sind, legen Sie die Karte verdeckt auf den Tisch und schieben Sie der Person ihrer Rechten zu"

Question: in the last part of the sentence, why is it it "Ihrer Rechten" and not "Ihr Recht". I cannot understand the declension rules for these two words. If I understand correctly, "der Person" is the indirect object here and "ihrer" is referring back to the subject "Sie". I'm confused about what case applies to "Ihrer Rechten" and why it is declined in this way.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    Please be aware, that the last Sie is not the subject ("you"), but refers to the card (and must therefore be written with a lowercase s): Wenn Sie fertig sind, legen Sie die Karte verdeckt auf den Tisch und schieben sie der Person ihrer Rechten zu – convaldo Mar 31 at 11:02
  • 1
    Check your source, because something else could be a missing zu, so "und schieben [Sie] sie der Person zu Ihrer Rechten zu" could be the full subordinate clause. – guidot♦ Mar 31 at 11:35
  • Thank you for the inputs. I agree with both. This is a dialogue from the movie Inglorious Basterds and the source is subslikescript.com/movie/Inglourious_Basterds-361748. It is from the card game scene between the German major and the undercover British Captain. It could be a wrong transcription. – Shaurya Apr 1 at 6:21
1

A full translation is:

If you are finished, place the card on the table with its face side downwards and shift it to the person on your right (hand) side.

So the missing lowercase sie means the card (accusative object), Person refers to whoever sits on your right side (dative object), and zu Ihrer Rechten is a location of that Person given in its usual dative, similar as it would be auf Ihrer rechten Seite.

One could also consider the person also as location, but targets of giving are always dative anyway.

Improve this answer
3
  • Agreed. So, am I right to assume that "der Person zu ihrer Rechten" is a location in itself (if we add another zu), as it is where the card is being moved to? That would also explain why the declension for Person is der (Dativ) and not die (Akkusativ). Or am I wrong again? xD – Shaurya Apr 1 at 6:25
  • @Shaurya: Correct, I tried to clarify this in the text – guidot♦ Apr 1 at 11:43
  • Perfect! Thanks a lot – Shaurya Apr 1 at 15:52

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.