Breakdown of Der zugefrorene See ist wunderschön.
sein
to be
wunderschön
gorgeous
der See
the lake
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
zufrieren
to freeze over
Questions & Answers about Der zugefrorene See ist wunderschön.
Why does the past participle zugefroren have an -e on the end?
Here, the past participle is being used as an adjective describing the lake (der ... See). Because it comes right between the definite article (der) and the noun, it needs a standard adjective ending. Since See is a masculine noun in the nominative case (it is the subject of the sentence), the correct ending is -e, giving us der zugefrorene.
What is the original verb for zugefroren, and why is the -ge- in the middle?
The infinitive verb is zufrieren (to freeze over). Because it is a strong verb with a separable prefix (zu-), the -ge- piece used to form the past participle is placed directly between the prefix and the main verb stem, resulting in zu-ge-froren.
Wait, I thought See meant "sea", but the translation says "lake". Which is it?
It depends entirely on the gender! Der See (masculine) means "the lake", which is what we have in this sentence. Die See (feminine) means "the sea" or "the ocean" (very similar in meaning to das Meer).
Is wunderschön just a compound of Wunder and schön?
Exactly! Sticking wunder- (miracle/wonder) in front of an adjective is a common and natural German trick to intensify it. So instead of just being beautiful (schön), the lake is wonderfully beautiful or gorgeous (wunderschön).
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