Breakdown of Das erste Hindernis wird vom Trainer aufgebaut.
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
erste
first (adjective)
der Trainer
the trainer / the coach
aufbauen
to build up
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
das Hindernis
the obstacle
Questions & Answers about Das erste Hindernis wird vom Trainer aufgebaut.
Wait, does Hindernis use the directional prefix hin- that we're learning in this lesson?
It looks like it, but no! Hindernis (obstacle) is a noun derived from the verb hindern (to hinder or prevent). The letters hin here have nothing to do with the directional prefix you are learning about. It is just a coincidence that they look the same.
Why is the sentence using wird instead of ist?
This sentence is in the passive voice, which focuses on the action happening. In German, you form this by using werden (here as wird) plus the past participle (aufgebaut). If you used ist aufgebaut, it would mean the action is already finished and describe a state (The obstacle is set up) rather than an ongoing process (The obstacle is being set up).
Why is it vom Trainer instead of von Trainer?
In a passive sentence, the person doing the action is introduced by the preposition von (by). Because von always requires the dative case, the masculine noun der Trainer changes its article to dem. The words von and dem merge to form the contraction vom.
Why does erste end in -e if Hindernis is a neuter noun? Shouldn't it be erstes?
Since the definite article das already shows us that the noun is neuter and in the nominative case, the adjective doesn't need to do that job. It takes the weak ending -e instead. You would only see erstes if the article were left out entirely.
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