Breakdown of In meinem Netzwerk gibt es viele Leute, denen ich gern helfe.
ich
I
gern
gladly, like to
in
in
die Leute
the people
viel
much / a lot
mein
my
helfen
to help
es gibt
there is / there are
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Netzwerk
the network
Questions & Answers about In meinem Netzwerk gibt es viele Leute, denen ich gern helfe.
Why is the relative pronoun denen instead of die?
The relative pronoun refers back to the plural noun Leute (people). It must be in the dative case here because the verb helfen (to help) always requires its object to be in the dative case. The dative plural relative pronoun is denen.
Why does the verb helfe go at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase denen ich gern helfe is a relative clause. Relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause, which means the conjugated verb (here, helfe) gets pushed to the very end of that clause.
Why is the beginning of the sentence gibt es instead of es gibt?
The phrase es gibt means "there is" or "there are". However, in German, the verb must be the second idea in a main clause. Since the sentence starts with the location In meinem Netzwerk (Idea 1), the verb gibt (Idea 2) must come next, pushing the subject es to the third position.
Why does it say In meinem Netzwerk with an -em ending?
The preposition in can take either the accusative or dative case. Because it describes a fixed location here (answering the question "Where?"), it takes the dative. Since Netzwerk is a neuter noun (das Netzwerk), the possessive word mein gets the dative ending -em.
Can I translate ich gern helfe as "whom I like to help"?
Yes! In German, adding the adverb gern (gladly or willingly) to a verb is the most natural way to say you "like to" do that action. So ich helfe gern translates smoothly to "I like to help."
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