Breakdown of Ein Schuh kommt plötzlich aus dem Schlamm hervor.
ein
a, an (eine)
kommen
to come
aus
from / out of (made of)
der Schuh
the shoe
plötzlich
suddenly
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Schlamm
the mud
hervor
out from
Questions & Answers about Ein Schuh kommt plötzlich aus dem Schlamm hervor.
How does the word hervor work with the her- prefixes we are learning?
hervor combines her- (indicating motion towards the speaker or observer) with vor (forward or in front). When a hidden object moves into plain sight towards you, it comes hervor.
Could I say the shoe comes heraus instead of hervor?
You could use herauskommen (to come out), but hervorkommen has a slightly different focus. While heraus just means moving from the inside to the outside, hervor specifically emphasizes emerging from a hidden state into view. It paints a better picture of the shoe suddenly appearing from the murky mud!
Why is hervor separated from kommt and placed at the very end?
They belong to the separable verb hervorkommen (to emerge). In a standard German main clause, the conjugated verb (kommt) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (hervor) is kicked to the very end of the sentence.
Why does the sentence use dem Schlamm instead of den Schlamm?
The preposition aus (out of) always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Because mud is a masculine noun (der Schlamm), the article changes to the dative masculine form, dem.
Learn Ein Schuh kommt plötzlich aus dem Schlamm hervor 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