Breakdown of Anlässlich des Feiertags gibt der Präsident einen Empfang.
ein
a, an (eine)
geben
to give
der Feiertag
the public holiday
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Präsident
the president
anlässlich
on the occasion of
der Empfang
the reception (act of receiving, event, signal)
Questions & Answers about Anlässlich des Feiertags gibt der Präsident einen Empfang.
Why does Feiertag become des Feiertags here?
The preposition anlässlich (on the occasion of) requires the genitive case. Since Feiertag (holiday) is a masculine noun (der Feiertag), the definite article changes to des and the noun takes the standard genitive ending -s.
Could I just use wegen instead of anlässlich in this sentence?
Grammatically, yes, because both require the genitive case. However, anlässlich has a very specific, formal nuance: it means 'on the occasion of' and is reserved for events, celebrations, or milestones. Wegen simply means 'because of' and would lose the formal, celebratory tone that fits a presidential reception.
Why does the verb gibt come before the subject der Präsident?
This is a good refresher on the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire prepositional phrase Anlässlich des Feiertags counts as a single block of information occupying the first position in the sentence. To keep the verb in the mandatory second position, gibt must come next, which pushes the subject der Präsident after the verb.
Is einen Empfang geben a fixed expression?
Yes. While it translates literally as 'to give a reception', in natural English we would usually say 'to host a reception' or 'to hold a reception'. German commonly uses the verb geben (to give) for hosting events, just like the phrase eine Party geben (to throw a party).
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