Breakdown of In der Therapie wartet der Therapeut darauf, dass das Kind aufhört zu zittern.
das Kind
the child
in
in
aufhören
to stop (doing something)
dass
that
warten auf
to wait for
darauf
on it
zu
to (infinitive marker)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
zittern
to tremble
die Therapie
the therapy
der Therapeut
the therapist
Questions & Answers about In der Therapie wartet der Therapeut darauf, dass das Kind aufhört zu zittern.
Why do we use darauf right before the dass clause?
The verb warten (to wait) requires the preposition auf (to wait for). When you are waiting for an entire action to happen, rather than just a noun, German uses a da-compound as a placeholder. darauf sits in the main clause pointing forward to the dass clause, essentially saying: 'The therapist is waiting for this: that the child stops trembling.'
Why is the separable verb aufhören written as one word (aufhört) here?
In a normal main clause, the prefix auf would split off and go to the end of the sentence. But because this is a subordinate dass clause, the conjugated verb is kicked to the end. When a separable verb is pushed to the end of a clause, the prefix and the verb stick together as a single word: aufhört.
I thought verbs go at the very end of a dass clause. Why does zu zittern come after aufhört?
zu zittern (to tremble) is an infinitive phrase connected to aufhören. While it is true that the conjugated verb (aufhört) usually goes to the very end of a dass clause, German often allows infinitive phrases with zu to spill over past the conjugated verb. This prevents too many verbs from piling up and makes the sentence easier to read.
Why does the subject der Therapeut come after the verb wartet?
The phrase In der Therapie takes up the first position in the sentence. Because German strictly requires the verb to be in the second position in a main clause, wartet stays in position two, pushing the subject der Therapeut into the third position.
Learn In der Therapie wartet der Therapeut darauf, dass das Kind aufhört zu zittern and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free