Breakdown of Ein Mann in der Abteilung sieht sehr verdächtig aus.
ein
a, an (eine)
der Mann
the man
sehr
very
in
in
aussehen
to look (appear)
die Abteilung
the department
verdächtig
suspicious
Questions & Answers about Ein Mann in der Abteilung sieht sehr verdächtig aus.
Since this lesson is about scheinen zu (to seem to), why does this sentence use aussehen instead?
aussehen specifically means 'to look' or 'to appear visually.' You use it when someone gives off a physical, visual impression. scheinen means 'to seem,' which is a broader impression based on evidence. If you wanted to use the grammar from this lesson, you could say: Ein Mann in der Abteilung scheint sehr verdächtig zu sein (A man in the department seems to be very suspicious).
Why is aus at the very end of the sentence?
It belongs to the separable verb aussehen (to look / to appear). In a standard German main clause, the conjugated part (sieht) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (aus) gets kicked to the very end of the sentence.
Why do we use in der Abteilung (dative) rather than in die Abteilung (accusative)?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because the phrase describes a static location (where the man is) rather than movement toward a new destination, it triggers the dative case. der is the feminine dative article for die Abteilung.
Is the word verdächtig related to other common German words?
Yes! It comes from the noun der Verdacht (the suspicion), which shares a root with denken (to think) and gedacht (thought). The suffix -ig turns the noun into an adjective, just like the English suffix '-ous' makes 'suspicious'.
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