Word
Deshalb sieht er sich das Trauma an.
Meaning
Therefore, he is taking a look at the trauma.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Deshalb sieht er sich das Trauma an.
er
he
deshalb
therefore / that is why
sich ansehen
to watch, to have a look at
das Trauma
the trauma
Questions & Answers about Deshalb sieht er sich das Trauma an.
Why does sich come directly after the subject er in this sentence?
In German, pronouns like to be as early as possible in the middle field of the sentence (the part after the conjugated verb). Because the subject er is a pronoun, it claims the first spot right after the verb sieht, and the reflexive pronoun sich obediently takes the very next spot.
How would the word order change if we replaced the pronoun er with a noun, like der Arzt (the doctor)?
If the subject is a noun, the reflexive pronoun usually jumps in front of it! The sentence would become: Deshalb sieht sich der Arzt das Trauma an. This happens because pronouns (like sich) almost always precede nouns (like der Arzt) in the middle field.
Why use the reflexive pronoun sich at all? The English translation doesn't say "he looks at himself".
The verb here is sich etwas ansehen, which is a slightly different beast than just etwas ansehen. Adding the reflexive pronoun translates literally to something like "taking a look at something for oneself." It is the standard, natural way to express actively watching or inspecting something, like a movie, a document, or in this case, an injury/trauma.
Is sich in the accusative or dative case here?