Breakdown of Sie werden den Fund wohl gerade aus dem dunklen Gestein ausgraben.
aus
from / out of (made of)
sie
they
dunkel
dark
gerade
just / just now
werden
will (future auxiliary)
wohl
probably, I suppose
der Fund
the find
ausgraben
to excavate
das Gestein
the rock
Questions & Answers about Sie werden den Fund wohl gerade aus dem dunklen Gestein ausgraben.
Why does this sentence use werden and ausgraben (future tense) when the translation says they are doing it "right now"?
In German, the future tense (Futur I) is frequently used to make an assumption about something happening right now. When combined with words like wohl (probably) and gerade (currently/right now), it translates to "They are probably excavating" rather than "They will excavate."
What is the exact function of wohl in this sentence?
wohl is a flavor particle that expresses probability or a strong guess. While using werden for an assumption already signals a guess, adding wohl makes the sentence sound much more natural, similar to saying "I suppose" or "probably" in English.
Since ausgraben is a separable verb, shouldn't the prefix aus be separated here?
No, because werden acts as the conjugated verb in the second position of the sentence. Just like with modal verbs, the main verb gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full, unchanged infinitive form. Therefore, ausgraben stays together as a single word.
Why does the adjective have an -en ending in aus dem dunklen Gestein?
The preposition aus always requires the dative case. The noun Gestein is neuter (das Gestein), so its article changes to dem in the dative. Because there is a definite article (dem) right before the adjective, the adjective takes the standard weak ending -en.
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