Breakdown of Nur wenige wissen die Antwort.
die Antwort
the answer
wissen
to know (a fact)
nur
only
wenige
few
Questions & Answers about Nur wenige wissen die Antwort.
Why does this sentence use wenige with an "e" at the end instead of just wenig?
Here, wenige is an indefinite pronoun standing in for "few people". When you are talking about countable things or people, you use the plural form wenige. If you were talking about an uncountable amount, like "little time" or "little water", you would use the singular wenig.
Why is the verb wissen in its plural form here?
The pronoun wenige (few) acts as the subject of the sentence. Since it refers to multiple people ("few people"), it counts as a plural subject. Therefore, the verb must also take the plural form wissen (know) rather than the singular weiß (knows).
Wait, shouldn't "to know" be kennen? Why does this sentence use wissen?
German has two common verbs for "to know". You use wissen when you know a fact, piece of information, or the answer to a question, as in this sentence. You use kennen when you are familiar with a person, a place, or a thing (for example, Ich kenne Berlin - I know Berlin).
What case is die Antwort in here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the sentence, meaning it is the thing that is known. For feminine nouns like die Antwort, the "the" word (die) looks exactly the same in the accusative case as it does in the nominative (subject) case.
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