Breakdown of In dieser Seifenoper geht es um Zwillinge, die der Arzt verheimlicht.
es
it
in
in
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
der Arzt
the doctor
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Zwilling
the twin
die Seifenoper
the soap opera
es geht um
to be about
um
about (concerning)
verheimlichen
to conceal
Questions & Answers about In dieser Seifenoper geht es um Zwillinge, die der Arzt verheimlicht.
Why do we say geht es um instead of just translating "it is about" literally?
When talking about the plot or main topic of a show, book, or conversation, German uses the fixed phrase es geht um (always followed by the accusative case). A literal English translation like es ist über is incorrect in German.
Why is the word order geht es instead of es geht?
German strictly enforces the "verb-second" rule in main clauses. Because this sentence starts with the prepositional phrase In dieser Seifenoper, the conjugated verb geht must take the second position. This pushes the mandatory subject es into the third position.
In the clause die der Arzt verheimlicht, how do we know who is doing the action?
We have to look at the cases rather than just the word order. der Arzt uses the masculine nominative article der, which tells us the doctor is the subject doing the action. The relative pronoun die points back to the plural Zwillinge (twins) and is in the accusative case, meaning the twins are the object being concealed.
Why isn't the verb verheimlicht split up into two words?
The verb verheimlichen (to conceal or keep secret) uses the prefix ver-. This prefix is always inseparable, so it stays firmly attached to the verb. Additionally, because this is a relative clause, the entire conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
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