Breakdown of Einerseits pflegt er den Bienenstock, andererseits bekommt er den Honig.
er
he
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
bekommen
to receive / to get (be given)
pflegen
to care for
einerseits
on the one hand
andererseits
on the other hand
der Bienenstock
the beehive
der Honig
the honey
Questions & Answers about Einerseits pflegt er den Bienenstock, andererseits bekommt er den Honig.
Why does the subject er come after the verbs pflegt and bekommt?
Einerseits and andererseits are adverbs, not coordinating conjunctions like und or aber. When they are put at the very beginning of a clause, they take up position 1. The verb must stay in position 2, which pushes the subject (er) into position 3.
Do einerseits and andererseits always have to be at the beginning of their clauses?
No, they can also be placed later in the sentence. If you start with the subject, the sentence would be: Er pflegt einerseits den Bienenstock, er bekommt andererseits den Honig. Placing the connectors at the very beginning, as in this example, just puts a stronger emphasis on the contrast.
What is the literal breakdown of the words einerseits and andererseits?
They literally translate to "on one side" and "on the other side". They are built by combining eine (one) and andere (other) with the noun Seite (side), plus an extra -s at the end which is used to turn the phrase into an adverb.
Why do we use den for both Bienenstock and Honig?
Both Bienenstock (beehive) and Honig (honey) are masculine nouns (der). Because they are the direct objects in their respective clauses—they are the things being cared for and received—they must take the accusative case. For masculine nouns, der changes to den.
I learned that pflegen means to nurse a sick person. Why is it used for a beehive here?
While pflegen is strongly associated with nursing and healthcare, its broader meaning is "to maintain," "to cultivate," or "to tend to." You can use it for tending to animals, maintaining a garden, keeping up a friendship, or looking after a machine.
Learn Einerseits pflegt er den Bienenstock, andererseits bekommt er den Honig and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free