Breakdown of Müsst ihr die Schwerkraft wirklich unsertwegen ändern?
ihr
you (informal plural)
müssen
to have to, must
wirklich
really
ändern
to change (modify, alter)
unsertwegen
because of us / for our sake
die Schwerkraft
the gravity
Questions & Answers about Müsst ihr die Schwerkraft wirklich unsertwegen ändern?
Why do we use unsertwegen here instead of just saying wegen uns?
While you will hear wegen uns a lot in spoken German, unsertwegen is the formally correct, traditional way to say 'because of us'. It is formed by taking the possessive stem (unser-), adding a linking -t-, and attaching -wegen.
I have also seen the word unseretwegen. Is that a typo for unsertwegen?
No, both spellings are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing. The version with the extra e (unseretwegen) is just a slight variation that some native speakers find easier to pronounce. The same is true for euertwegen and euretwegen (because of you all).
Does unsertwegen have a conversational meaning like 'for all we care', similar to meinetwegen?
No, this is an important distinction! While meinetwegen is very often used as a casual 'fine by me' or 'for all I care', unsertwegen does not share this idiom. It strictly means 'because of us' or 'for our sake'.
Why is unsertwegen placed after the direct object die Schwerkraft?
German usually places definite accusative objects (like die Schwerkraft) before adverbial phrases of cause (like unsertwegen). The adverbial phrase gets pushed closer to the end of the sentence, right before the infinitive verb ändern.
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