Breakdown of Wegen der Trockenheit müssen wir das Feld bewässern, um die Ernte zu retten.
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
das Feld
the field
retten
to save (rescue)
um ... zu
in order to
wegen
because of
die Ernte
the harvest
die Trockenheit
the drought
bewässern
to irrigate
Questions & Answers about Wegen der Trockenheit müssen wir das Feld bewässern, um die Ernte zu retten.
Since the lesson is about dadurch, dass, could we use that here instead of wegen?
Not directly. Wegen is a preposition meaning "because of" and just needs a noun (der Trockenheit). Dadurch, dass (by / through the fact that) introduces a whole sub-clause with a verb. You would instead use dadurch, dass to explain how you save the harvest, for example: "Dadurch, dass wir das Feld bewässern, retten wir die Ernte" (By irrigating the field, we save the harvest).
Why is it der Trockenheit? Aren't words ending in -heit feminine?
Yes, Trockenheit is feminine! However, the preposition wegen requires the genitive case to show the cause. In the genitive case, the feminine definite article die changes to der.
Why is the word order müssen wir instead of wir müssen?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire phrase Wegen der Trockenheit takes up the first position in the sentence. Therefore, the conjugated verb müssen must come second, pushing the subject wir into the third position.
What does the um ... zu construction do here?
The phrase um ... zu translates to "in order to" and expresses the purpose or goal of an action. The word um starts the clause, followed by the object (die Ernte), and finishes with zu placed immediately before the infinitive verb (retten) at the very end.
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