Breakdown of Wir hatten viel Sprengstoff, und der Hubschrauber wäre fast darauf gestürzt.
sein
to be
und
and
haben
to have
wir
we
viel
much / a lot
fast
almost
darauf
on it
der Hubschrauber
the helicopter
stürzen
to plunge
der Sprengstoff
the explosive
Questions & Answers about Wir hatten viel Sprengstoff, und der Hubschrauber wäre fast darauf gestürzt.
Why do we use wäre gestürzt instead of hätte gestürzt?
To express an unfulfilled past event (something that almost happened but didn't), we use the past tense of Konjunktiv II. Because the verb stürzen (to crash or fall) expresses a change of location, its perfect tense is formed with the helping verb sein. Therefore, its Konjunktiv II past uses wäre rather than hätte.
Could I use beinahe instead of fast in this sentence?
Yes! Both fast and beinahe mean "almost" or "nearly." When combined with the past Konjunktiv II, they indicate a "near miss" in the past. You could just as easily say ...wäre beinahe darauf gestürzt.
Why does the sentence use darauf instead of auf ihn to mean "onto it"?
Sprengstoff is a masculine noun, so you might initially expect the masculine pronoun in auf ihn. However, when referring back to inanimate objects or materials, German strongly prefers a da-compound (da + preposition). Since the preposition for "onto" is auf, we use darauf. If the helicopter had almost crashed onto a person, you would use a personal pronoun like auf ihn.
Why is Sprengstoff singular when the English translation says "explosives" (plural)?
In German, der Sprengstoff is usually treated as an uncountable mass noun when referring to the material in general, similar to how English uses "sand" or "water." English just happens to use the plural form "explosives" for this same general concept.
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