Breakdown of Wir warten auf Anna und öffnen ihretwegen die Luftschleuse.
und
and
wir
we
Anna
Anna
öffnen
to open
warten auf
to wait for
ihretwegen
for her sake / because of them
die Luftschleuse
the airlock
Questions & Answers about Wir warten auf Anna und öffnen ihretwegen die Luftschleuse.
What exactly is ihretwegen and why not just say wegen ihr?
ihretwegen translates to 'because of her' or 'for her sake'. To use wegen with a personal pronoun, you combine the possessive stem (here, ihr- for 'her') with the suffix -etwegen. While you might hear wegen ihr in casual spoken German, ihretwegen is the grammatically correct standard form.
Could ihretwegen also mean 'because of them' in a different sentence?
Yes! The possessive stem ihr- is used for both 'her' and 'their'. If capitalized as Ihretwegen, it would even mean 'for Your sake' (formal). We only know it means 'for her sake' here because the first clause specifically mentions Anna.
Why is ihretwegen placed before the direct object die Luftschleuse?
In German, expressions of reason or cause like ihretwegen typically come before the direct accusative object (die Luftschleuse). This fits the general rule where adverbial phrases tend to precede noun objects.
Just as a quick refresher, why do we use auf in warten auf Anna?
The verb warten (to wait) strictly requires the preposition auf followed by the accusative case to express who or what you are waiting for. Even though Anna does not have an article here to show the case, it is grammatically accusative.
Learn Wir warten auf Anna und öffnen ihretwegen die Luftschleuse and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free