Breakdown of Der strenge Meister lehrt den Anfänger den Kampfsport.
streng
strict
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Meister
the master
der Anfänger
the beginner
lehren
to teach (academic, formal)
der Kampfsport
the martial arts
Questions & Answers about Der strenge Meister lehrt den Anfänger den Kampfsport.
Why are both den Anfänger and den Kampfsport in the accusative case here? Doesn't the person receiving the action usually take the dative case?
Normally, yes! With most verbs, the person receiving something is in the dative case (like in Ich gebe dem Mann den Ball). However, lehren (to teach) is one of a few special verbs in German that require a double accusative. This means both the person being taught (den Anfänger) and the subject being taught (den Kampfsport) must be in the accusative case.
The English translation says 'martial arts' in the plural, but the German word is den Kampfsport. Is it singular in German?
Exactly. Der Kampfsport literally translates to 'combat sport' and is used as a singular noun in German to refer to martial arts in general. If you wanted to emphasize multiple different styles, you would use the plural word die Kampfsportarten, but the singular is standard here.
Why is the adjective ending in Der strenge Meister just -e instead of -er?
This is a quick refresher on adjective declension! The masculine noun Meister is the subject here, so it is in the nominative case. Because the definite article der already clearly shows us the gender and case, the adjective just takes the weak ending -e.
I usually use the verb beibringen for 'to teach'. Could I use it in this sentence instead?
You absolutely can, and in everyday spoken German, beibringen is actually more common than the slightly formal verb lehren. However, if you switch to beibringen, the grammar changes to the standard rule: the person goes in the dative case. The sentence would become Der strenge Meister bringt dem Anfänger den Kampfsport bei.
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