Breakdown of Ich sehe die Vorlage auf der Schulter liegen.
ich
I
sehen
to see
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
liegen
to lie
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
die Vorlage
the template
die Schulter
the shoulder
Questions & Answers about Ich sehe die Vorlage auf der Schulter liegen.
Why do we use the infinitive liegen instead of a word for "lying" or zu liegen?
When you use a perception verb like sehen (to see) or hören (to hear), the second verb takes the bare infinitive form without zu. While English says "I see it lying", German literally says "I see it lie".
Why does liegen go at the very end of the sentence?
In German, when a sentence has a main conjugated verb like sehe and a second verb like the infinitive liegen, the main verb takes the regular second position, and the second verb is pushed to the very end of the clause.
Why is it auf der Schulter (dative) rather than auf die Schulter (accusative)?
auf is a two-way preposition. Because the template is already resting in a fixed position, it answers the question "where?" which requires the dative case. If it were being actively placed onto the shoulder, it would answer "to where?" and take the accusative die Schulter.
Could I use legen here instead of liegen?
No. liegen (to lie) describes the state of resting somewhere, which matches the fixed location of the dative auf der Schulter. legen (to lay or put) is an action verb that would require the accusative case auf die Schulter to show movement.
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