Breakdown of Ich lasse meine Katze immer beim Tierarzt impfen, damit sie gesund bleibt.
ich
I
sie
she
die Katze
the cat
immer
always
mein
my
bleiben
to stay
beim
at the (bei + dem)
gesund
healthy
damit
so that
lassen
to have something done (causative)
der Tierarzt
the veterinarian
impfen
to vaccinate
Questions & Answers about Ich lasse meine Katze immer beim Tierarzt impfen, damit sie gesund bleibt.
Why is the infinitive impfen (to vaccinate) used here instead of a past participle like the English word vaccinated?
In English, we say that we have something vaccinated, using a past participle. But in German, the causative verb lassen (to have something done) always pairs with the infinitive form of the action verb. So, Ich lasse meine Katze ... impfen translates structurally closer to saying you let your cat vaccinate.
Why is impfen at the very end of the first part of the sentence?
When lassen is used to express having something done, it acts structurally just like a modal verb. The conjugated verb (lasse) takes the standard second position in the main clause, and the infinitive action verb (impfen) gets pushed to the very end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why does the sentence use beim Tierarzt instead of in or zu?
Beim is a contraction of the preposition bei and the dative article dem. German uses bei to express being located at a professional practice or a person's home, much like saying at the vet's in English. If you were traveling to the vet, you would use zum Tierarzt, but because the action happens at the clinic, you use beim.
Why is the verb bleibt at the very end of the sentence?
The word damit (so that) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which requires the conjugated verb (bleibt) to be kicked to the very end of that clause.
Why does the sentence use sie to refer to the cat, even if the cat might be biologically male?
Pronouns in German must always match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Because the noun is die Katze (a feminine noun), you must use sie (she) to refer back to it in the second half of the sentence, regardless of the real-world gender of the animal.
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