Breakdown of Vitamine sind wichtig für den Körper.
sein
to be
wichtig
important
für
for
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Körper
the body
das Vitamin
the vitamin
Questions & Answers about Vitamine sind wichtig für den Körper.
Since German often uses definite articles for broad concepts (like "die Natur"), why is there no article before Vitamine?
While German does use definite articles for singular abstract concepts (like die Liebe or das Leben), general categories or substances in the plural (like Vitamine or Kohlenhydrate) often take no article, just as they do in English.
What is the singular form of Vitamine, and is there a trick to remembering its gender?
The singular is das Vitamin. A helpful B2-level pattern to remember is that many chemical, biological, or medical terms ending in -in are neuter in German, such as das Protein, das Penicillin, and das Aspirin.
This sentence is quite simple. How could I expand it using the current lesson's focus, insofern als (insofar as)?
You could restrict the broad statement by explaining exactly how they are important: Vitamine sind insofern wichtig für den Körper, als sie das Immunsystem unterstützen. (Vitamins are important for the body insofar as they support the immune system). Notice how insofern sits in the main clause, while als kicks off a subordinate clause with the verb at the end.
The verb sind describes a static state. Why do we still use the accusative den Körper instead of the dative?
Because the grammatical case here is entirely dictated by the preposition für. Unlike two-way prepositions (such as in or auf) that switch between accusative and dative based on motion versus state, für is a strict accusative preposition. It always takes the accusative, regardless of the verb used in the sentence.
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