Breakdown of Ich habe vor, mit meinem Partner zu sprechen.
ich
I
sprechen
to speak
mein
my
der Partner
the partner (male)
mit
with
zu
to (infinitive marker)
vorhaben
to intend
Questions & Answers about Ich habe vor, mit meinem Partner zu sprechen.
Where does habe vor come from?
It comes from the separable verb vorhaben, which means "to intend" or "to plan". In the main clause, the verb haben is conjugated for Ich, and the prefix vor moves to the end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why is there a comma in this sentence?
The comma separates the main clause (Ich habe vor) from the infinitive clause (mit meinem Partner zu sprechen). In German, you use a comma before these extended zu + infinitive structures to separate the two ideas and make the sentence easier to read.
Where exactly do we put the zu?
The word zu goes immediately before the infinitive verb (sprechen). Together, zu sprechen gets placed at the very end of the sentence.
Why is it meinem Partner instead of mein Partner?
The preposition mit always requires the dative case. Because Partner is a masculine noun, the possessive word mein takes the masculine dative ending -em to become meinem.
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