Breakdown of Gemäß dem Handbuch musst du immer die Schutzkleidung tragen.
du
you (informal singular)
immer
always
tragen
to carry, to wear
müssen
to have to, must
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
gemäß
according to / in accordance with (rules, standards)
das Handbuch
the manual
die Schutzkleidung
the protective clothing
Questions & Answers about Gemäß dem Handbuch musst du immer die Schutzkleidung tragen.
Why is it dem Handbuch instead of das Handbuch?
The preposition gemäß always requires the dative case. Since das Handbuch (the manual) is a neuter noun, the article changes to dem in the dative.
Can I put gemäß after the noun instead?
Yes! The preposition gemäß is special because it can be placed either before or after its noun. You could perfectly well say Dem Handbuch gemäß musst du... and it means exactly the same thing. Placing it after the noun often sounds a bit more formal or elegant in written German.
Why does the verb musst come before the subject du?
In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must always sit in the second position. The entire prepositional phrase Gemäß dem Handbuch takes up the first position, so the verb musst comes next, pushing the subject du right after it into the third position.
How do we know the gender of Schutzkleidung?
Schutzkleidung is a compound noun made of der Schutz (protection) and die Kleidung (clothing). In German, compound nouns always take the gender of their final word. Because it ends with the feminine word die Kleidung, the entire compound noun is feminine.
Why is tragen at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the modal verb müssen (conjugated here as musst). When you use a modal verb, it takes the second position in the sentence and pushes the main action verb (tragen) to the very end in its basic, unconjugated infinitive form.
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