Breakdown of Wir durften nicht auf den zugefrorenen See gehen.
wir
we
nicht
not
gehen
to go
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
der See
the lake
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
zufrieren
to freeze over
Questions & Answers about Wir durften nicht auf den zugefrorenen See gehen.
How does the word zugefrorenen work in this sentence?
It is the past participle of the separable verb zufrieren (to freeze over), used here as an adjective describing the lake. Because it comes after the masculine accusative article den, we add the weak adjective ending -en to make zugefrorenen.
Why do we use the accusative auf den instead of the dative auf dem?
The preposition auf is a two-way preposition. Since the sentence expresses a movement towards a destination (going onto the lake), it requires the accusative case. If the sentence described an action happening in a fixed location (like already ice-skating on the lake), we would use the dative auf dem.
I thought See meant the sea or ocean. Why is it translated as lake?
In German, the meaning of this word depends entirely on its gender. The masculine noun der See means the lake (which is used here, as seen by the masculine accusative den). The feminine noun die See means the sea or the ocean.
Why is the main verb gehen at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard word order when using a modal verb. The conjugated modal verb durften (the simple past form of dürfen, meaning to be allowed to) takes the second position in the sentence, which pushes the infinitive verb gehen to the very end of the clause.
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