Word
Ich sehe den Tätowierer stechen, aber ich bleibe still sitzen.
Meaning
I see the tattoo artist inking, but I stay seated quietly.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ich sehe den Tätowierer stechen, aber ich bleibe still sitzen.
ich
I
aber
but
sehen
to see
bleiben
to stay
Questions & Answers about Ich sehe den Tätowierer stechen, aber ich bleibe still sitzen.
Why is it stechen and not zu stechen?
Just like in English ('I see him ink'), perception verbs like sehen (to see) and hören (to hear) take a bare infinitive in German. You do not use zu (to) before the second verb.
Why do we use the infinitive sitzen after bleibe instead of a participle like 'seated'?
The verb bleiben (to stay or remain) is another special verb that connects directly to a bare infinitive. While English uses an '-ing' word or past participle ('stay sitting' or 'stay seated'), German simply uses the infinitive, as in sitzen bleiben (to stay seated).
Is stechen the normal word for tattooing? I thought it meant 'to sting'.
Yes, in the context of tattoos, stechen is the standard verb. The artist 'stings' or 'pricks' the ink into the skin. You will also hear the phrase sich ein Tattoo stechen lassen meaning 'to get a tattoo'.
Why is it den Tätowierer? Is he the object of sehe or the subject of stechen?
Grammatically, den Tätowierer is in the accusative case because he is the direct object of what you see. Even though he is the one performing the action of inking, the perception verb sehen requires the person being watched to be in the accusative case.