Breakdown of Dank diesem Sammler sind die Ersatzteile original.
sein
to be
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Ersatzteil
the spare part
Questions & Answers about Dank diesem Sammler sind die Ersatzteile original.
Why does dank take the dative case (diesem Sammler) here instead of the genitive?
The preposition dank is flexible and can take either the dative or the genitive case without changing the meaning. So, dank dieses Sammlers (genitive) would also be perfectly correct. In modern spoken and written German, the dative is very common, especially when a determiner like diesem clearly shows the case.
Can dank be used sarcastically or for negative situations, like 'thanks to' can in English?
Generally, no. Dank is almost exclusively used for positive, beneficial causes. If you want to express a negative or neutral cause (like 'due to' or 'because of'), you should use a preposition like wegen or aufgrund.
Why is the verb sind placed right after the word Sammler?
This happens because of the German verb-second (V2) rule. The entire prepositional phrase Dank diesem Sammler takes up the first position in the sentence. The conjugated verb sind must take the second position, which pushes the subject (die Ersatzteile) into the third position.
Why doesn't the adjective original have an ending?