Breakdown of Ich bin von dir enttäuscht, denn du bist für den Fehler verantwortlich.
ich
I
sein
to be
du
you (informal singular)
dir
you / to you [informal singular, dative]
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
für
for
denn
because
der Fehler
the mistake
verantwortlich
responsible
enttäuscht
disappointed
Questions & Answers about Ich bin von dir enttäuscht, denn du bist für den Fehler verantwortlich.
Why does the German sentence use von dir instead of a direct translation like in dir for "disappointed in you"?
The adjective enttäuscht (disappointed) requires the fixed preposition von when talking about being disappointed by a person or thing. While English uses "in", you just have to memorize the pair enttäuscht von. Since von always triggers the dative case, du becomes dir.
Does verantwortlich always take the preposition für?
Yes, verantwortlich (responsible) always pairs with für to express what someone is responsible for. This is a handy one because it matches the English "responsible for" perfectly. Remember that für always takes the accusative case, which is why the masculine noun der Fehler becomes den Fehler.
Why doesn't the verb go to the end of the sentence after denn?
The word denn (because) is a coordinating conjunction that occupies "position 0" in the clause. That means it doesn't count towards the word order, so the subject (du) and the conjugated verb (bist) stay in their normal first and second positions. If the sentence had used weil instead, the verb would have been kicked to the end: ... weil du für den Fehler verantwortlich bist.
Why is verantwortlich placed at the very end of the sentence?
In German, when an adjective with a fixed preposition describes the subject, the adjective usually comes after its prepositional object. So rather than mirroring the English order (are responsible for the mistake), German places the prepositional phrase für den Fehler first, pushing verantwortlich to the very end of the clause.
Learn Ich bin von dir enttäuscht, denn du bist für den Fehler verantwortlich 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