Breakdown of Zudem beschuldigen sie das Unternehmen der Korruption.
sie
they
das Unternehmen
the company (enterprise)
zudem
moreover
beschuldigen
to accuse
die Korruption
the corruption
Questions & Answers about Zudem beschuldigen sie das Unternehmen der Korruption.
Why is der Korruption in the genitive case here?
The verb beschuldigen (to accuse) strictly requires the genitive case for the crime or offense. The grammatical formula is jemanden (Accusative person/entity) einer Sache (Genitive thing) beschuldigen. Here, das Unternehmen is the accusative object being accused, and der Korruption is the genitive object representing the offense.
Since the English translation is "accuse of corruption", shouldn't there be a preposition like von before der Korruption?
No, you shouldn't use a preposition here. In German, verbs that govern the genitive case build that "of" meaning directly into the noun's case. Adding von would be grammatically incorrect because beschuldigen demands a pure genitive object without any prepositions.
Why is the verb beschuldigen placed before the subject sie?
This is due to the standard German V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence starts with the connecting adverb Zudem (moreover) in position one. To keep the conjugated verb in the strict second position, the subject sie has to move to position three.
What is the difference between beschuldigen and anklagen? Could I use anklagen here?
Both verbs mean "to accuse" and both use the exact same Accusative + Genitive structure. However, anklagen has a stronger legal connotation, like being officially indicted by a prosecutor in court. beschuldigen is slightly broader and better for general claims of wrongdoing, which fits perfectly when talking about a company's alleged corruption.
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