Word
Die Kinder sitzen nebeneinander im Garten.
Meaning
The children sit next to each other in the garden.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Die Kinder sitzen nebeneinander im Garten.
das Kind
the child
der Garten
the garden
sitzen
to sit
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
Questions & Answers about Die Kinder sitzen nebeneinander im Garten.
Why are neben and einander joined into a single word?
In German, whenever a preposition (like neben, meaning next to) is used with the reciprocal pronoun einander (each other), they always fuse together to form one word. So neben plus einander becomes nebeneinander.
Does einander change its ending depending on the case (dative or accusative)?
No! One of the best things about einander is that it never changes its form. Whether the preposition attached to it normally requires the accusative or dative case, the fused word stays exactly the same.
Could I use the reflexive pronoun sich instead of einander here?
You might remember that plural reflexive pronouns can sometimes mean each other, for example, sie sehen sich (they see each other). However, when using a preposition like neben, you really need to use einander to avoid confusion. If you said neben sich, it would sound like the children are sitting next to themselves!
Why is it im Garten (dative) rather than in den Garten (accusative)?