Word
Der Assistent kommt, um den Fehler zu entfernen.
Meaning
The assistant comes in order to remove the error.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Assistent kommt, um den Fehler zu entfernen.
kommen
to come
der Fehler
the mistake
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Assistent
the assistant
Questions & Answers about Der Assistent kommt, um den Fehler zu entfernen.
How does the prefix ent- work in the verb entfernen?
The prefix ent- indicates removal, separation, or taking something away. It is combined here with the adjective fern, which means 'far'. So, entfernen literally means to 'make something far away' or 'remove' it.
If entfernen is an inseparable verb, how do you form its past participle?
Verbs with inseparable prefixes like ent-, ver-, and zer- do not add the normal ge- prefix in the perfect tense. The past participle of entfernen is simply entfernt. If you wanted to say 'He has removed the error', it would be Er hat den Fehler entfernt.
Why do we use um ... zu here instead of just zu?
The structure um ... zu translates to 'in order to'. It is used to express a purpose or intention. While zu entfernen just means 'to remove', using um den Fehler zu entfernen clearly explains the reason why the assistant is coming. Notice that um starts the clause after the comma, and zu goes right before the infinitive verb at the very end.
Why is the word den used before Fehler?