Breakdown of Es geht um einen dramatischen Unfall, nach dem er im Koma liegt.
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
es
it
liegen
to lie
nach
after (in time)
der Unfall
the accident
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
dem
whom / which (dative relative pronoun; forms: dem, der, denen)
es geht um
to be about
um
about (concerning)
dramatisch
dramatic
das Koma
the coma
Questions & Answers about Es geht um einen dramatischen Unfall, nach dem er im Koma liegt.
Why do we use Es geht um to say 'It is about'?
Es geht um is a fixed German expression used to state the topic of a story, conversation, or situation. The impersonal Es is mandatory here as the subject. You cannot translate 'It is about' word-for-word (like 'es ist über'). Also remember that the preposition um always forces the following noun into the accusative case.
Why does the sentence use einen dramatischen Unfall instead of ein dramatischer Unfall?
The preposition um always requires the accusative case. Since Unfall is a masculine noun (der Unfall), the article becomes einen. The adjective dramatischen gets the -en ending, which is standard for masculine accusative adjectives after an indefinite article (ein or einen).
What is nach dem doing here, and why is it in the dative case?
Here, dem is a relative pronoun linking back to the masculine noun Unfall. Because the preposition nach always takes the dative case, the relative pronoun der changes to dem. Together, nach dem translates to 'after which'.
Could I just use danach instead of nach dem?
Not in this exact sentence structure. danach means 'after that' and is used as an adverb in main clauses. Because we are linking the accident directly to his coma in a single combined sentence using a relative clause, we must use a relative pronoun (dem) right after the preposition (nach).
Why is the verb liegt pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The phrase nach dem er im Koma liegt is a relative clause describing the accident. Relative clauses are a type of subordinate (dependent) clause, and in German, subordinate clauses always kick their conjugated verb to the very end.
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