Breakdown of Wir retten Arbeitsplätze, indem wir neue Produkte entwickeln.
wir
we
neu
new
retten
to save (rescue)
entwickeln
to develop
das Produkt
the product
indem
by doing
der Arbeitsplatz
the job
Questions & Answers about Wir retten Arbeitsplätze, indem wir neue Produkte entwickeln.
If I wanted to start this sentence with Meiner Meinung nach (in my opinion), how would the word order change?
You would say Meiner Meinung nach retten wir Arbeitsplätze... Because the phrase Meiner Meinung nach takes up the first position in the sentence, the conjugated verb retten must immediately follow it in the second position, pushing the subject wir to the third position.
Why does the English translation say "by developing", but the German sentence uses the regular verb entwickeln?
German does not use an "-ing" verb form (gerund) after prepositions like English does. To express "by doing [something]", German uses the conjunction indem followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb. Literally, this is structured as "by the fact that we develop new products".
Why is the verb entwickeln placed at the very end of the sentence?
The word indem is a subordinating conjunction. In German, subordinating conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause and always kick the conjugated verb (entwickeln) to the very end of that clause.
Why is there an "s" in the middle of the word Arbeitsplätze?
Arbeitsplätze (workplaces or jobs) is a compound noun built from die Arbeit (work) and die Plätze (places). The "s" in the middle is a linking letter (called a Fugen-s) that simply makes the two words flow together better when spoken rapidly.
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