Breakdown of Wir beobachten den Faktor, der das Phänomen beeinflusst.
wir
we
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
beobachten
to observe, to watch
beeinflussen
to influence
der Faktor
the factor
das Phänomen
the phenomenon
Questions & Answers about Wir beobachten den Faktor, der das Phänomen beeinflusst.
How can we transform this relative clause into an extended participle attribute?
Because the relative clause describes an active, ongoing action, we use the present participle (Partizip I) of beeinflussen, which is beeinflussend. Since it modifies the masculine accusative noun den Faktor, we add the adjective ending -en to get beeinflussenden. We then place the object of the clause (das Phänomen) right before the participle, and put this whole phrase before the noun. The result is: Wir beobachten den das Phänomen beeinflussenden Faktor.
Why is the relative pronoun der (nominative) when it refers back to den Faktor (accusative)?
A relative pronoun always matches the gender and number of the noun it refers to, but its case depends on its grammatical role inside the relative clause itself. Here, the factor is the subject doing the influencing, so it must be in the nominative case (der), even though it is the accusative direct object in the main clause.
If we wanted to express that the factor was influenced by the phenomenon (passive), how would the participle attribute look?
For a passive meaning, we use the past participle (Partizip II), which is beeinflusst. Adding the masculine accusative adjective ending gives us beeinflussten. The agent (the phenomenon) is connected with the preposition von plus dative, resulting in: Wir beobachten den von dem Phänomen beeinflussten Faktor.
Could we use a past participle attribute to say 'the factor that influenced the phenomenon' in the past active tense?
No. You can only form a past participle attribute (Partizip II) for verbs that build their perfect tense with sein or for passive constructions. Since beeinflussen is active and builds its perfect tense with haben, you cannot use it as a past active participle attribute here. You must leave it as a relative clause: Wir beobachten den Faktor, der das Phänomen beeinflusst hat.
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