Breakdown of Nach dem Tod seiner Mutter ist er umgezogen.
die Mutter
the mother
sein
his
nach
after (in time)
umziehen
to move (change residence)
der Tod
the death
Questions & Answers about Nach dem Tod seiner Mutter ist er umgezogen.
Why is it seiner Mutter if the mother is female? Doesn't seiner look like a masculine word?
This is the genitive case, which is used to show possession (meaning "his mother's" or "of his mother"). Mutter is a feminine noun, and in the genitive case, feminine possessive articles take an -er ending. The base word is sein (his), so it becomes seiner.
Why does the sentence use dem Tod instead of der Tod?
The preposition nach always forces the following noun into the dative case. Because Tod (death) is a masculine noun (der Tod), its dative article changes to dem.
Why is the verb ist placed right after Mutter instead of after er?
In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must always sit in position 2. The entire phrase Nach dem Tod seiner Mutter acts as a single block of time information occupying position 1. Therefore, the verb ist must come immediately after it.
Why do we say ist ... umgezogen instead of hat ... umgezogen?
To form the spoken past tense (Perfekt), German uses the helping verb sein instead of haben for verbs that express a change of location or a change of condition. Because umziehen (to move house) involves a change of location, it requires sein (conjugated here as ist).
How is the past participle umgezogen built?
The infinitive is umziehen, which is a separable verb. When making the past participle for a separable verb, the -ge- gets sandwiched between the prefix (um-) and the verb stem (zogen), creating umgezogen.
Learn Nach dem Tod seiner Mutter ist er umgezogen and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free