Breakdown of Es handelt sich um ein Testament und einen bösen Verrat.
ein
a, an (eine)
es
it
und
and
böse
mad / mean
sich handeln um
to be about
das Testament
the will (legal document)
der Verrat
the betrayal
Questions & Answers about Es handelt sich um ein Testament und einen bösen Verrat.
Why do we use the reflexive pronoun sich with an impersonal es here?
The phrase es handelt sich um is a fixed expression meaning "it is about" or "it deals with." The verb here must be reflexive, so the sich is mandatory even though the subject is just the impersonal es. You have to memorize es handelt sich um as a complete set.
Could I say es geht um ein Testament instead?
Absolutely! Both es handelt sich um and es geht um mean "it is about." Es handelt sich um sounds slightly more formal and is often used to describe the core subject of a document, situation, or event. Es geht um is perfectly fine here and is very common in everyday spoken German.
Why does the adjective in einen bösen Verrat end in "-en"?
The preposition um always forces the following noun phrase into the accusative case. Since Verrat is a masculine noun (der Verrat), the indefinite article becomes einen. When you have a masculine accusative noun following an indefinite article, the describing adjective must also take the -en ending, giving us einen bösen Verrat.
Does ein Testament stay exactly the same in the accusative case?
Yes. Because Testament is a neuter noun (das Testament), its accusative form is identical to its nominative form. The preposition um applies the accusative case to both ein Testament and einen bösen Verrat, but the case change is only visually obvious on the masculine noun.
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