Breakdown of Trotz der Inflation haben sie das Kapital gesammelt.
haben
to have
sie
they
sammeln
to gather
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
trotz
despite
die Inflation
the inflation
das Kapital
the capital (money, assets)
Questions & Answers about Trotz der Inflation haben sie das Kapital gesammelt.
How would we say this using an 'obwohl' (although) clause instead of 'trotz'?
To use obwohl, we have to transform the noun phrase der Inflation back into a full subordinate clause with a subject and a conjugated verb. You could say: Obwohl es eine Inflation gab, haben sie das Kapital gesammelt. Nominalizing it with trotz makes the sentence more concise.
Why does a feminine noun like 'Inflation' use the article 'der' here?
The preposition trotz requires the genitive case. Because Inflation is a feminine noun, its definite article changes from die in the nominative to der in the genitive.
Why does the verb 'haben' come before the subject 'sie' in this sentence?
The entire prepositional phrase Trotz der Inflation acts as a single block occupying the first position in the sentence. To satisfy the strict V2 (verb-second) rule of German main clauses, the conjugated verb haben must come next, forcing the subject sie into the third position.
I thought 'sammeln' meant 'to collect'. How does it mean 'to raise' here?
While sammeln generally means to collect or gather, in financial or business contexts it translates to raising money. Phrases like Kapital sammeln or Spenden sammeln (to raise donations) are standard German expressions.
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