Breakdown of Der Arzt untersucht die schweren Verletzungen auf der Trage.
der Arzt
the doctor
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
schwer
heavy / severe, serious
untersuchen
to investigate
die Verletzung
the injury
die Trage
the stretcher
Questions & Answers about Der Arzt untersucht die schweren Verletzungen auf der Trage.
Why does the adjective in die schweren Verletzungen end in -en?
Because it is a plural noun following a definite article (die). When an adjective follows a plural definite article, it always takes the weak -en ending in every case.
Why is auf der Trage in the dative case? Doesn't the doctor's examination imply an active process?
The preposition auf is a two-way preposition. Even though examining is an action, the dative is used here because it describes a fixed location where the action is happening (answering 'where?'), rather than movement toward a new destination (answering 'to where?').
How would I change this sentence to say the doctor examines the injuries 'with the help of' a new device?
You would use the genitive preposition mithilfe. For example: Der Arzt untersucht die schweren Verletzungen mithilfe eines neuen Geräts. Notice how ein neues Gerät changes to the genitive eines neuen Geräts.
If we want to say the severe injuries are 'as a result of an accident', how do we use infolge here?
You would use the genitive preposition infolge. The sentence would become: Der Arzt untersucht die schweren Verletzungen infolge eines Unfalls. The masculine noun der Unfall changes to its genitive form eines Unfalls.
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