Word
Er geht barfuß und murmelnd zurück in sein Bett.
Meaning
He goes barefoot and mumbling back into his bed.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Er geht barfuß und murmelnd zurück in sein Bett.
How is murmelnd formed, and what role does it play in this sentence?
murmelnd is the Present Participle (Partizip I) of the verb murmeln (to mumble). In German, you form this simply by adding -d to the infinitive of a verb. Here, it is used as an adverb of manner: it describes how the action of walking is happening.
Why doesn't murmelnd have a declension ending, like murmelnder or murmelndes?
Because it is acting as an adverb describing the verb geht, rather than an adjective describing a noun. When the Present Participle is used as an adverb, it stays in its basic -d form and takes no endings. If it were modifying a noun directly (like 'the mumbling man'), it would need an adjective ending (der murmelnde Mann).
Where does the word zurück come from, and why is it placed there?
It is the prefix of the separable verb zurückgehen (to go back). In a standard German main clause, the conjugated part of the verb (geht) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (zurück) gets pushed toward the end of the clause, right after the adverbs barfuß und murmelnd.
Why do we use the accusative case for in sein Bett instead of the dative in seinem Bett?