Breakdown of Neben dem historischen Gebäude müssen Sie links abbiegen.
Sie
you (formal)
müssen
to have to, must
neben
next to
das Gebäude
the building
historisch
historical
abbiegen
to turn (left or right)
links
left
Questions & Answers about Neben dem historischen Gebäude müssen Sie links abbiegen.
Why does the adjective historischen end in -en?
In this sentence, historischen comes after the definite article dem (which is in the dative case). When an adjective follows a definite article in the dative case, it always takes the ending -en. This rule is very predictable because it applies to all noun genders!
Why is the article dem used here instead of the standard article das?
The preposition neben (next to) is a two-way preposition. It triggers the dative case here because it describes a fixed location where an action happens, answering the question "Where?". Since Gebäude (building) is a neuter noun, its article changes from das to dem in the dative case.
Why is the verb müssen placed before the subject Sie?
In German statements, the main conjugated verb must always sit in the second position. Because this sentence starts with the entire location phrase Neben dem historischen Gebäude occupying position one, the verb müssen takes position two. This naturally pushes the subject Sie right after the verb.
I learned that abbiegen is a separable verb. Why isn't the ab- prefix separated here?
Normally, you would separate it, like in the sentence Sie biegen links ab. However, this sentence uses the modal verb müssen. A modal verb pushes the second verb to the very end of the sentence in its full dictionary form (the infinitive), so the separable prefix stays attached.
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