Breakdown of Bleibt während des Notfalls ruhig!
bleiben
to stay
ruhig
quiet, calm
der Notfall
the emergency
während
during
Questions & Answers about Bleibt während des Notfalls ruhig!
Why does the sentence start with Bleibt instead of Bleib or Bleiben Sie?
Bleibt is the imperative (command) form for ihr (informal plural "you"). The speaker is telling a group of people to stay calm. If they were talking to just one person informally, it would be Bleib, and if they were speaking formally it would be Bleiben Sie.
Why is it des Notfalls with an -s at the end?
The preposition während (during) requires the genitive case. The noun is der Notfall (masculine). In the genitive case, the masculine article der changes to des, and masculine (as well as neuter) nouns usually add an -s or -es to the end of the word.
I sometimes hear Germans use the dative case with während. Is that correct?
In everyday spoken German, you will sometimes hear während used with the dative case (like während dem Notfall). However, standard German grammar requires the genitive case (während des Notfalls). It is best to learn and practice the genitive form, as it is required in written and more formal German.
Can you break down the word der Notfall?
It is a compound noun made of die Not (distress, need, or misery) and der Fall (case or event). Literally, it translates to a "case of distress," which is exactly what an emergency is.
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