Word
Der Kunde bleibt still sitzen.
Meaning
The customer stays sitting still.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Kunde bleibt still sitzen.
bleiben
to stay
sitzen
to sit
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Kunde
the customer
Questions & Answers about Der Kunde bleibt still sitzen.
Why is there no zu before sitzen, and why doesn't it translate to an -ing word like in English?
In German, the verb bleiben (to stay) acts a bit like a modal verb. It connects directly to the bare infinitive of another verb. Instead of adding zu, you just use the dictionary form (sitzen). Also, German doesn't have an equivalent to the English -ing form. Where English says 'stays sitting', German literally says 'stays sit'.
Why is sitzen placed at the very end of the sentence?
This is a refresher on the classic German verb bracket. In a main clause with two verbs, the conjugated verb (bleibt) takes the second position, and the infinitive (sitzen) gets pushed to the very end. Any other information, like the adverb still, gets sandwiched between them.
Are there other common phrases that use bleiben with an infinitive like this?
Yes, bleiben is very commonly used with verbs describing a physical position or state. Besides sitzen bleiben (to stay seated), you will frequently hear stehen bleiben (to stop walking or stand still) and liegen bleiben (to stay in bed or stay lying down).
Does the German word still always mean the same thing as the English word 'still'?