Breakdown of Wir müssen uns unbedingt versöhnen mit dem sturen Onkel.
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
mit
with
unbedingt
absolutely
der Onkel
the uncle
stur
stubborn
sich versöhnen
to reconcile
Questions & Answers about Wir müssen uns unbedingt versöhnen mit dem sturen Onkel.
Why is mit dem sturen Onkel at the very end of the sentence, after the infinitive versöhnen?
This is a classic example of using the Nachfeld (after-field). Normally, the infinitive versöhnen would sit at the very end to close the sentence bracket. However, German allows you to push heavy or important prepositional phrases after the final verb. This makes the sentence flow better and prevents the listener from having to wait too long for the main verb.
Where would mit dem sturen Onkel go if we didn't use the Nachfeld?
In standard word order, the phrase would go right before the infinitive: Wir müssen uns unbedingt mit dem sturen Onkel versöhnen. Both versions are grammatically correct, but the Nachfeld version sounds a bit more relaxed and natural in spoken German.
Why do we need the pronoun uns here?
The German verb for to reconcile is sich versöhnen, which is a reflexive verb. Since the subject of the sentence is wir, the reflexive pronoun must match it, giving us uns. Grammatically, you are saying We must absolutely reconcile ourselves with the stubborn uncle.
Why does the adjective stur have an -en ending here (sturen)?
The preposition mit always triggers the dative case. Since Onkel is a masculine noun, its article becomes dem. Whenever an adjective comes after a definite article in the dative case, it takes the weak ending -en.
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