Breakdown of Das vom Investor finanzierte Gebäude ist sehr hoch.
sein
to be
sehr
very
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
das Gebäude
the building
hoch
high
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
finanzieren
to finance
der Investor
the investor
Questions & Answers about Das vom Investor finanzierte Gebäude ist sehr hoch.
How does the phrase vom Investor finanzierte work here instead of a relative clause?
This is an extended participle attribute. Instead of using a relative clause like das vom Investor finanziert wurde, German can take the past participle finanziert, put any related details like vom Investor right before it, and place the whole block directly in front of the noun like a giant adjective.
How do I figure out where this long adjective phrase starts and ends?
Look for the bracket created by the article and the noun. The definite article Das opens the noun phrase, and the noun Gebäude closes it. Everything sandwiched in between modifies that noun.
Why is there an -e at the end of finanzierte?
Because the past participle is functioning as an adjective describing the neuter noun Gebäude. It follows the definite article das in the nominative case, so it must take the weak adjective ending -e.
Why do we use vom (von dem) for the investor rather than durch?
The past participle finanzierte implies a passive action (the building was financed). In German passive constructions, the active agent (the person or group actually doing the action) is introduced with the dative preposition von.
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