Breakdown of Wir müssen die Abhängigkeit davon reduzieren.
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
davon
of it, from it, about it
reduzieren
to reduce
die Abhängigkeit
the dependence
Questions & Answers about Wir müssen die Abhängigkeit davon reduzieren.
Why do we use davon here instead of translating 'on it' literally?
The noun die Abhängigkeit requires the fixed preposition von, just like its root adjective abhängig. Because we are referring to an inanimate concept ('it') rather than a person, German requires the da-word davon instead of a regular preposition and pronoun.
In English we say 'dependence on', so why aren't we using a da-word with auf, like darauf?
Fixed prepositions are highly idiomatic and rarely translate word-for-word. While English uses 'on' for dependence, German uses von (literally 'from' or 'of'). When learning a noun like die Abhängigkeit, you must memorize its required preposition along with it.
Does the noun Abhängigkeit dictate the case of the object following it?
Not directly. The noun dictates which preposition to use (von), and the preposition dictates the case. Von is a strictly dative preposition. If you replaced davon with a specific noun like 'the oil' (das Öl), it would become dative: die Abhängigkeit von dem Öl.
Could we put davon at the very end of the sentence?
No, because the modal verb müssen (must) forces the main infinitive verb reduzieren (reduce) to the absolute end of the clause. The prepositional adverb davon modifies die Abhängigkeit and naturally sits right after it, safely before the final verb.
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