Breakdown of Dieser Konflikt hat Chaos ausgelöst in der ganzen Wohnung.
in
in
haben
to have
die Wohnung
the apartment
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
ganz
quite, completely; whole
der Konflikt
the conflict
das Chaos
the chaos
auslösen
to trigger
Questions & Answers about Dieser Konflikt hat Chaos ausgelöst in der ganzen Wohnung.
Why is in der ganzen Wohnung at the very end of the sentence instead of before ausgelöst?
You have probably learned that the past participle (ausgelöst) must go at the very end of the sentence. However, German allows placing certain phrases after the final verb cluster in a position called the Nachfeld (after-field). This is often done with prepositional phrases to make the sentence easier to process, to add emphasis, or simply as an afterthought.
What is the standard word order for this sentence if I do not use the Nachfeld?
The standard sentence bracket structure would place the prepositional phrase before the final verb: Dieser Konflikt hat Chaos in der ganzen Wohnung ausgelöst. Using the Nachfeld is completely optional here, though it is a very natural way native speakers break up heavy sentences.
Why does in trigger the dative case (der ganzen Wohnung) here instead of the accusative?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Even though triggering chaos implies a change or an event, the chaos itself is contained statically inside the apartment. It answers the question where? (wo?), not to where? (wohin?), so it takes the dative case. Because Wohnung is feminine, we use the dative article der and the dative adjective ending -en.
How is the past participle ausgelöst formed here?
It comes from the separable verb auslösen (to trigger or cause). When forming the past participle in the Perfekt tense, the -ge- is sandwiched directly between the separable prefix aus- and the verb stem lösen, resulting in ausgelöst.
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