Breakdown of Der Passagier sieht eine große Welle.
ein
a, an (eine)
groß
big / tall
sehen
to see
der Passagier
the passenger
die Welle
the wave
Questions & Answers about Der Passagier sieht eine große Welle.
Why is the verb spelled sieht instead of seht?
The infinitive (dictionary form) of the verb is sehen. However, it is a strong verb, meaning its core vowel changes in the du (you) and er/sie/es (he/she/it) forms. For sehen, the e changes to ie, giving us er sieht (he sees).
Why does the adjective groß have an -e at the end in eine große Welle?
Welle (wave) is a feminine noun. In this sentence, it is the direct object (the thing being seen), which puts it in the accusative case. When a feminine noun in the accusative case follows the indefinite article eine, any adjective before it takes an -e ending.
How do the articles in this sentence prove who is looking at what?
Der Passagier uses the nominative masculine article der, clearly marking the passenger as the subject of the sentence (the one doing the action). If the wave were the subject, the sentence would start with Die große Welle, but here it takes the object position.
How could we add the word entlang from this lesson to say the passenger looks 'along a large wave'?
You would place it right at the end of the sentence: Der Passagier sieht eine große Welle entlang. In German, when entlang is used to show direction or movement along something, it uniquely acts as a 'postposition'—meaning it is placed after the accusative noun phrase (eine große Welle) rather than before it.
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