Breakdown of Der Sprecher sagt, der Vorfall werde durch einen Experten untersucht.
ein
a, an (eine)
sagen
to say
der Experte
the expert
durch
through
untersuchen
to investigate
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
der Sprecher
the spokesperson
der Vorfall
the incident
Questions & Answers about Der Sprecher sagt, der Vorfall werde durch einen Experten untersucht.
Why is the verb werde used here instead of wird?
It is in the Konjunktiv I (Present Subjunctive) form, which is often used for reported speech. Because we are reporting what the spokesperson says, we change the normal present tense wird to werde. This signals that we are just passing along someone else's statement.
Why doesn't the second part of the sentence start with dass?
In German reported speech, you can easily drop the word dass. When you do this, the reported clause acts like a regular main clause, which is why the verb werde stays in the normal second position. If you used dass, the verb would be pushed to the end: sagt, dass der Vorfall durch einen Experten untersucht werde.
Does werde untersucht mean this will happen in the future?
No, this is the passive voice, not the future tense. The German passive is formed using werden plus the past participle (untersucht). Because it is reported speech, wird untersucht (is being investigated) becomes werde untersucht. If it were the future tense, the main verb would be in its infinitive form (untersuchen).
Is Experten plural in this sentence?
It is actually singular! The noun der Experte belongs to a special group of weak nouns (often called N-declension). These nouns take an extra -n ending in every case except the nominative. Because it comes after the preposition durch, it must be in the accusative case, making it durch einen Experten.
Can I use von instead of durch to say the investigation is done by an expert?
Yes, von einem Experten would also be perfectly correct. In passive sentences, von is the most common way to express who performed the action. The preposition durch is also used, often to emphasize the means or the process through which something is achieved, which fits nicely for an investigation.
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