Breakdown of Mit der stärksten Magie kann er sich in das schnellste Tier verwandeln.
er
he
schnell
fast, quickly
in
in
können
can / to be able to
das Tier
the animal
mit
with
stark
strong
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
die Magie
the magic
sich verwandeln
to transform
Questions & Answers about Mit der stärksten Magie kann er sich in das schnellste Tier verwandeln.
Why does stärksten end in -en?
It is a superlative adjective describing Magie. Because it comes after the dative definite article der (triggered by the preposition mit), the adjective takes the weak ending -en. You take the base superlative stärkst- and add the standard adjective ending.
Why does schnellste end in -e instead of -en like stärksten?
schnellste describes das Tier (a neuter noun) in the accusative case. After a definite article in the accusative neuter (das), the weak adjective ending is just -e. So, the base superlative schnellst- simply gets an -e.
Why is sich used in this sentence?
In German, the verb for to transform is sich verwandeln. It is a reflexive verb, meaning the subject conceptually does the action to itself. sich is the accusative reflexive pronoun matching er.
Why is in das schnellste Tier in the accusative case?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. It takes the accusative case here because it describes a change of state or a movement into a new form (transforming into something), rather than a static location.
Why is the verb kann placed before the subject er?
German strictly follows the verb-second rule. The first position in this sentence is taken up by the entire prepositional phrase Mit der stärksten Magie. Therefore, the conjugated verb kann must come exactly in position two, pushing the subject er to position three.
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