Questions tagged [sentence-structure]
Satzbau – Questions relating to the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences.
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Warum ist das zweite Verb nicht am Ende?
Ich habe in einem Buch den folgenden Satz gesehen:
Ich habe reserviert auf den Namen Müller.
Meine Frage ist: Warum ist das Wort reserviert hier nicht am Ende des Satzes?
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1
answer
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The role of ‘haben’ and ‘lassen’ as “model verb”s
I am confused by the roles of ‘haben’ and ‘lassen’ as “model verbs” (the reason of the double quote here, is because I’m not even sure how exactly to phrase the roles).
Here are 2 examples:
‘Wir ...
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1
answer
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How to properly translate this sentence?
How to properly translate this sentence from English to German?
"Latest Berlin transit news covering S-Bahn and U-Bahn"
Specifically having trouble with word "transit". Words "...
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votes
1
answer
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What is the meaning of the construct "Willst du was trinken?"
I'm really new to learning Deutsch. I'm trying to understand the grammatical logic so to speak behind the "construct"
Willst du was trinken?
Aren't only closed questions supposed to have ...
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answer
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Role of „es“ in a sentence with “ablegen”
In an example on the usage of ablegen, dwds.de gives the following example:
Natürlich legt er es nicht im geringsten darauf ab, den Herrn von
Prackwitz zu ruinieren.
Presuming that er is the subject ...
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1
answer
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Workaholic in german
How to playfully call someone a workaholic in german?
I found many definitions of the equivalent german translation, so I am quite confused which one best suits to this situation. Also, some examples ...
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abends nur am Donnerstag offen
Das Büro ist abends nur am Donnerstag offen.
This is in response to someone who wants to make an appointment but only has time in the evening. The opening hours for the office are - von 9 bis 12 Uhr ...
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votes
1
answer
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Word order in the context of "Wie Sie sagen"
As a start-at-the-beginning refresher, I am working through translation exercises in "A Complete German course", by Leslie John Russon, a book that I used at high school many years ago. The ...
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Why do only some conjunctions push the verb to the end?
In the following examples, the conjunction pushes the verb to the end of the sentence:
Du trinkst, weil du Durst hast.
Ich mag es, wenn es einfach ist.
Der Käse ist gut, obwohl er alt ist.
However,...
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Position of zusammen
Wir machen immer zusammen viel Spaß. Wir singen gern zusammen, wir sehen gern zusammen lustige Videos an, und wir lesen gern zusammen.
This is something I’m trying to write. I am confused as to where ...
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I have a very hard time parsing long German sentences
I routinely find myself puzzling for long stretches of time over the meaning of long German sentences, as are often found in academic writing, for example. Here I'm referring to sentences where the ...
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what's the structure of this sentence?
The sentence is:
Den einen nerven die Mitreisenden in der Bahn, den nächsten, dass er beim Autofahren nichts anderes machen kann.
Could you tell me what "den nächsten" means and the usage ...
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votes
3
answers
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Difference in meaning due to word order
I'm puzzled by the difference in meaning between
Die Eltern werden ihrem Kind Alles ermöglichen
and
Die Eltern werden Alles ihrem Kind ermöglichen
Is there an actual difference in meaning, or is ...
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How do you tell which is subject and which object?
In today's Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten the following appears:
Die wichtigsten Oppositionsparteien in Venezuela wollen die Parlamentswahl am 6. Dezember boykottieren. In einer gemeinsamen ...
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2
answers
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What is the word "dem" doing in this sentence?
Part of a sentence from a novel:
… zum erstenmal kam sein Ton dem nahe, wie er wohl normalerweise sprach.
Could someone please explain what the grammatical status and purpose of the "dem" ...
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1
answer
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Weird position of verb in sentence
I have this sentence:
Da wir am Wochenende viele von unseren Freunden zu einer Party eingeladen haben, müssen wir nun einen Großeinkauf machen.
I don't get, why is the verb (haben) at the end of the ...
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Regarding Sentence Structure of the sentence "Überrascht Sie etwas am Tisch?" [closed]
Überrascht Sie etwas am Tisch?
In this sentence Sie is the object but why it is coming right after the verb. Shouldn't the subject be in that position?
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1
answer
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Word order in sentence
I'm in self-learning phase. Please pardon me if you find it repeated/very basic.
My question is: I understand subject should be at first and verb shall be at second position. But how do we arrange ...
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votes
1
answer
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Perfect tense in Google Translate and DeepL [duplicate]
We have learned in A1 that if we want to make a sentence in a perfect tense, we should use haben followed by the verb in the past participle.
For example, the sentence
We have made a bike tour.
...
user44338
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4
answers
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die senkrecht darauf stehende z-Achse aber im Fall der Landfahrzeuge vom Erdmittelpunkt weg zeigt,
Wie dieser scheinbare Widerspruch zu erklären ist, zeigen die nebenstehenden Abbildungen: ENU- und NED-System gleichen sich darin, dass die xy-Ebene beider parallel zur Erdoberfläche verläuft, die ...
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Satz mit den meisten aufeinanderfolgenden Verben
Es geht um Sätze mit aufeinanderfolgenden Verben ohne andere Wortarten oder Satzzeichen dazwischen.
Beispiele (Länge der längsten Verbfolge in Klammern):
Ich schreibe einen Brief (1)
Ich habe einen ...
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answer
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Kafka Metamorphoses sentence structure
I came across this sentence in the Metamorphosis:
"Mit welcher Kraft er sich auch auf die rechte Seite warf, immer wieder schaukelte er in die Rückenlage zurück."
Why is the verb "...
user44469
7
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1
answer
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Kommen or gehen?
I would like to ask:
How do we go from here to Bach street?
for example from someone in the street. Thus, I asked:
Wie gehen wir von hier zur Bachstraße?
But, I was told that I should ask instead:
...
user44338
2
votes
2
answers
168
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Wieso gibt es kein "um" in diesem Satz?
In diesem Satz:
Durch unsere Arbeit treffen wir immer wieder Menschen, die sehr nervös sind, Deutsch zu sprechen.
Normalerweise muss "um" in diesem Satz stehen ([...] die sehr nervös sind, ...
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Please explain this long sentence
From Begegnungen B1, Kapitel 1:
Es gibt Leute, die bei eBay einen Koffer für den Urlaub kaufen wollen und nach vier Stunden im Internet Besitzer eines Autos sind, obwohl sie gar keinen Führerschein ...
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1
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Structure of "Ich möchte gern zum Theater." [duplicate]
I have stumbled on the following sentences:
Ich möchte gern ins Fernsehen.
Ich möchte gern zum Theater.
I am surprised by the structure, as it sounds to me like a verb is missing somewhere. For ...
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How to write separable (trennbare) verbs in enumeration?
Let's assume there is a sentence with an enumeration:
It proposes and analyses possible scenarios…
In a German version I would write it as:
Es schlägt vor und analysiert mögliche Szenarien…
...
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Kann im 2. Teil eines zusammengesetzten Satzes das Personalpronomen weggelassen werden?
Beispiele:
Wenn du so viele Jahre in einem Beruf gearbeitet hast, wirst auch länger aushalten.
Lassen Sie Putzlappen gut trocknen und wechseln sie häufig.
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Are there German paraprosdokians? [closed]
A paraprosdokian is a sentence that starts out leading the reader/listener to think it is heading one direction, but then it has a surprise ending. For instance, Groucho Marx, "I've had a wonderful ...
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lassen and its usages and meanings
How is the distribution of objects?
Example:
"Die Soldaten haben sich töten lassen."
There is one or more object after "haben", they can be one of the following:
object for lassen,
object for ...
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Why does "zu" come at the beginning of the sentence?
I came across this sentence. Let's say there are two hats and someone is asking
Zu welchem Hut passt meine Jacke?
Which hat matches my jacket?
Why do we use zu here?
Normally we use zu to ...
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2
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'Wird/verb' + 'so' sentences
I have a question about the below type of sentence, composed of a first position (auxiliary) verb + a second/third clause beginning 'so'. Here is a specimen 'problem' sentence here for me, with my ...
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'Dass' construction/sentence - how to translate?
I have written the following sentence in an essay I am translating about the Austrian poet Georg Trakl's Bluebeard 'Dramenfragment':
"Dadurch, dass es ein Fragment ist, wird der Rahmen der Form, ...
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answer
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Position of "wohl" in a sentence [closed]
Die Schüler werden wohl eine Klassenfahrt machen.
Warum steht wohl vor eine Klassenfahrt in diesem Satz?
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Jetzt vs. eben vs. einfach
Is either einfach, gerade, or jetzt the German equivalent to just in English? For example,
He just called me.
Is the German translation
Er hat mich eben angerufen?
Er hat mich gerade ...
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Wieso "ihre" Mannschaft?
Heute habe ich diesen Satz irgendwo gelesen:
Michael, wie oft hat Ihre Mannschaft ein Spiel?
Wieso ist in dem Satz "ihre" und nicht "deine"?
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Missing auxillary verb in usage of pluperfect in Thomas Manns "Der Zauberberg"
I have just finished reading "Der Zauberberg" by Thomas Mann and I couldn't help but notice that the author often leaves out the auxiliary verb (especially in the form of hatte) when writing in ...
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When do you start a sentence with an adverb and when you do how does this change the word order?
I am learning German at the Goethe Institut, and in one of their questions they make the following statement:
Vielleicht sind Sie noch nie Ski gefahren, wollen es aber im nächsten Winter lernen
"...
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Sentence predicates in English vs German
I've been reading around sentence structure in German and I was hoping that someone could clarify something for me.
From what I've read and understood, the following apply:
In English, the predicate ...
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'Ich esse einen Apfel' OR 'Ich bin einen Apfel essen'
Which of the above two sentences is correct or if both are correct then what is more appropriate to say? Please answer.
I am used to continuous tense in English which makes me start the sentence ...
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Können „und zwar“ und „nämlich“ am Anfang des Satzes stehen?
Kann man in der Standardhochsprache den neuen Satz, der sich auf den vorigen Text bezieht bedenkenlos mit und zwar oder dem Wort nämlich einleiten? Zum Beispiel:
Laut einem Artikel gebe es erneut ...
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Kasus des Relativpronomens im Relativsatz
"Du hast mir von einer Freundin erzählt. Ist sie das?"
Ich möchte die obigen zwei Sätze verbinden.
"Ist das die Freundin, von deren du mir erzählt hast?"
Ich habe etwas falsch geschrieben, aber ...
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answers
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Word ordering in sentences
I am wondering if there is any difference between these two sentences:
Kannst du vielleicht dann meine Mutter anrufen?
and
Vielleicht kannst du dann meine Mutter anrufen?
I've already read --> ...
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2
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How to structure a sentence with a list?
I have the following sentence:
Diese Lösungen können kombiniert werden mit A,B,C,D und E.
It sounds somewhat badly structured and I feel that the following restructuring would be better:
Diese ...
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Saying "I will be doing my home work." in German
I hope it is clear, I would like to say "I will be doing my home work in 2 hours". I mean I will be in action in 2 hours. It can be said like that?
Ich werde in zwei Stunden meine Hausaufgaben machen. ...
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When to use sich?
I have this sentence in english Let's buy it (to us)!.
In my workbook, translation of this sentence is following : Kaufen wir es uns!
My question is : Can I also use Kaufen wir es sich!?
I have ...
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mit Harn beschmutzen
mit Harn beschmutzen
Duden has given the above phrase as a meaning of the verb "besprenzen".
If the verb "besprenzen" takes an accusative object then why the accusative citation is not shown in ...
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Sentence without verb in german
alle Übungen online verfügbar
Is this sentence correct without verb? It is form Advertisement
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Grammatik, Verwendung und Kasus? - "Der unnötige Begegnung vermeidet, hilft allen, ..."
An excerpt from Angela Merkel's televised speech regarding Covid-19, I'm trying to figure out the grammatical structure of the first clause: what are the cases used and could you provide another ...
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"für die Party" or "zur Party"?
Which sentence is correct?
Ich lade dich für die Party ein (Akkusative)
or
Ich lade dich zur Party ein (Dativ)
or
Both are correct based on für or zu?
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