Breakdown of Während der Untersuchung des Skeletts haben sie das Grab freigelegt.
haben
to have
sie
they
während
during
das Skelett
the skeleton
das Grab
the tomb
freilegen
to uncover (expose, excavate)
die Untersuchung
the examination
Questions & Answers about Während der Untersuchung des Skeletts haben sie das Grab freigelegt.
How would this sentence look if we used a full temporal clause instead of the noun phrase "Während der Untersuchung"?
You would use the conjunction während (while) and a conjugated verb. For example: Während sie das Skelett untersuchten, haben sie das Grab freigelegt. Notice how the preposition changes into a conjunction, and the noun Untersuchung turns back into the verb untersuchten.
Why are there two genitives in a row here (der Untersuchung des Skeletts)?
The first genitive (der Untersuchung) is required by the preposition während, which always takes the genitive case in standard German. The second genitive (des Skeletts) is a possessive attribute describing what is being examined (the examination of the skeleton). Stacking genitives like this is very common when nominalizing actions (turning verbs into nouns).
Is während always followed by the genitive case?
In written and formal German, yes. In spoken, everyday German, you might hear während used with the dative case. However, since Untersuchung is feminine, its dative and genitive forms are exactly the same (der Untersuchung). You can only clearly see the genitive at work here in the second noun: des Skeletts.
Why is freigelegt written as one single word?
It is the past participle of the separable verb freilegen (to uncover or expose). When forming the perfect tense of a separable verb, the -ge- is placed directly between the separable prefix (frei-) and the verb stem (-legt), creating one continuous word.
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