Breakdown of Der Zeuge brachte die Waffe zur Polizei.
bringen
to bring
zur
to the (zu + der)
die Polizei
the police
der Zeuge
the witness
die Waffe
the weapon
Questions & Answers about Der Zeuge brachte die Waffe zur Polizei.
Why is the verb brachte considered a "mixed" verb here?
Bringen (to bring) is a mixed verb because it mixes features of weak and strong verbs in the past tense. Like a strong verb, it changes its stem from bring- to brach-. However, like a weak regular verb, it adds the standard past tense ending -te to become brachte.
Zeuge ends in -e. Why is the article masculine (der)?
Zeuge (witness) is a masculine noun belonging to the n-declension (weak nouns) group, which mostly contains male people or animals. In the subject position (nominative), it is simply der Zeuge. In almost any other role in a sentence, it would take an extra -n and become Zeugen.
Why is it zur Polizei and not zu die Polizei?
The preposition zu always requires the dative case. Polizei is a feminine noun, so its article changes from die to der in the dative. The word zur is just a short, merged version of zu der.
Would a German speaker actually say brachte in everyday conversation?
Usually, Germans prefer the spoken past tense (Perfekt) in daily conversation, which would be: Der Zeuge hat die Waffe zur Polizei gebracht. However, the simple past brachte is still understood by everyone and is very common in written texts, news reports, and storytelling.
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