Breakdown of Das Gehege war verriegelt, jedoch haben wir das Raubtier zu kontrollieren.
sein
to be
haben
to have
wir
we
kontrollieren
to inspect
verriegeln
to bolt
jedoch
however
das Gehege
the enclosure
das Raubtier
the predator
Questions & Answers about Das Gehege war verriegelt, jedoch haben wir das Raubtier zu kontrollieren.
How does haben ... zu kontrollieren work here? Doesn't haben just mean "to have"?
In this sentence, haben is combined with zu and the infinitive (kontrollieren) to express an active obligation. This haben zu construction means the exact same thing as müssen (to have to / must). So, haben wir ... zu kontrollieren means "we have to check". It often sounds a bit more formal, strict, or official than simply using müssen.
Why is the verb haben placed before the subject wir right after jedoch?
The word jedoch (however) acts as an adverb that takes up the first position in this second clause. Because German main clauses strictly require the conjugated verb to be in the second position, haben must take position 2. This rule pushes the subject wir into position 3.
Is kontrollieren a direct translation of the English word "to control"?
Not exactly! kontrollieren is a classic "false friend". While it can occasionally mean "to control", it usually translates to "to check", "to inspect", or "to monitor". In this context, they don't need to physically control or dominate the predator; they just need to inspect or check on it. To say "control" in the sense of dominating or steering, you would use verbs like beherrschen or steuern.
Why does the sentence use war verriegelt instead of wurde verriegelt?
war verriegelt describes a finished state or condition: the enclosure was already in a locked state when they were talking about it. This is called the statal passive (Zustandspassiv). If the sentence used wurde verriegelt (the standard action passive), it would mean the action of someone locking the enclosure was happening right at that moment in the past ("the enclosure was being locked").
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