Breakdown of Der Gegner ist beim Erobern der Basis.
sein
to be
beim
at the (bei + dem)
der Gegner
the opponent
erobern
to capture
die Basis
the base
Questions & Answers about Der Gegner ist beim Erobern der Basis.
Why do we use beim Erobern instead of the normal present tense erobert?
German does not have a formal progressive tense like the English "is capturing". To emphasize that an action is currently happening, everyday German uses the structure sein (to be) plus am or beim and a capitalized infinitive noun. Here, ist beim Erobern stresses that the enemy is right in the middle of the capture.
Why is it der Basis (genitive) instead of the accusative die Basis?
Because Erobern is functioning as a noun here (meaning "the capturing"). Nouns cannot take direct accusative objects like verbs can. Instead, the object of the action becomes a genitive attribute attached to the noun. It literally translates to "at the capturing of the base." Since Basis is a feminine noun, its genitive article is der.
Could I use am instead of beim in this sentence?
You can say Der Gegner ist am Erobern if there is no object. However, adding an object makes the am-progressive tricky. While you might hear Der Gegner ist die Basis am Erobern in some regional dialects, it is heavily frowned upon in standard German. Using beim followed by a genitive object (beim Erobern der Basis) is the most natural and grammatically accepted way to include an object in this colloquial progressive structure.
Why is Erobern capitalized here?
The contraction beim stands for bei dem (at the). The definite article dem signals that the following word is a noun. This means the infinitive verb erobern has been nominalized (turned into a noun). Since all nouns in German are capitalized, it becomes Erobern.
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