Breakdown of Ein riesiger Stein kam vom Katapult geflogen.
ein
a, an (eine)
kommen
to come
fliegen
to fly
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
Questions & Answers about Ein riesiger Stein kam vom Katapult geflogen.
Why does the sentence use the past participle geflogen instead of the present participle fliegend to mean 'flying'?
In German, when describing how someone or something arrives, we use a form of kommen followed by the past participle (Partizip II) of the motion verb. While English says 'came flying' using a present participle, German says kam geflogen. You will see this structure with other verbs of motion too, such as er kam gerannt (he came running).
How does kam... geflogen differ from just saying flog (flew)?
Using kommen plus a past participle emphasizes the direction of the motion towards the speaker or the focal point of the story. The phrase Ein riesiger Stein flog... just states the fact that it flew. Changing it to Ein riesiger Stein kam... geflogen paints a much more vivid picture of the stone hurtling specifically toward the observer.
Why does riesiger have an -er ending here?
Stein is a masculine noun in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence. Since it follows the indefinite article ein (which has no ending of its own in the nominative masculine), the adjective must take the strong ending -er to clearly show the gender and case.
Why use vom instead of aus dem for 'from the catapult'?