Breakdown of Ich liege auf dem Bett und friere.
ich
I
und
and
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
das Bett
the bed
liegen
to lie
frieren
to freeze
Questions & Answers about Ich liege auf dem Bett und friere.
Why is it auf dem Bett and not auf das Bett?
auf is a two-way preposition. Because you are resting in a stationary position rather than moving to a new destination, it answers the question "where?" (wo?) instead of "where to?" (wohin?). This means it takes the dative case (dem Bett) rather than the accusative (das Bett).
I always confuse liegen and legen. Why do we use liege here?
liegen (to lie) describes a state or position, which matches resting on the bed. legen (to lay/put) describes a movement or action, like putting a book on a table or putting yourself to bed (mich ins Bett legen).
Why isn't there another ich before friere?
When you connect two verbs with und (and) that share the same subject, you don't need to repeat the pronoun. Saying Ich liege auf dem Bett und ich friere is grammatically fine, but dropping the second ich sounds much more natural, just like in English.
How would I use the current lesson's word trotzdem to say "Nevertheless, I am lying on the bed and freezing"?
If you put Trotzdem at the very beginning (Position 1), the verb must immediately follow it in Position 2. The subject (ich) gets pushed to the other side of the verb. The sentence becomes: Trotzdem liege ich auf dem Bett und friere.
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