Breakdown of Welches kompakte Auto fährt sich am besten?
das Auto
the car
fahren
to drive, to travel
sich
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)
welcher
which (welcher, welche, welches, welchen, welchem...)
am besten
best (of all); it would be best to
kompakt
compact
Questions & Answers about Welches kompakte Auto fährt sich am besten?
Why do we say fährt sich (drives itself) instead of using the passive voice like wird gefahren?
This is the reflexive middle voice, which is a common alternative to the passive. We use it to describe a general characteristic of a subject, usually how easily or well something can be done. Saying wird am besten gefahren would focus on the action of a specific driver, whereas fährt sich am besten focuses on the handling qualities of the car itself.
Can I use this reflexive construction to replace the passive with any verb?
No, it only works with certain verbs and is almost always paired with an evaluating adverb like gut, schlecht, leicht, or in this case, am besten. It is mainly used for things being used, handled, or processed. Another common example is Das Buch liest sich gut (The book reads well).
Why does the adjective end in -e (kompakte) instead of -es? Doesn't the neuter noun Auto require an -es ending?
The question word welches functions like a definite article (a der-word) and already carries the strong neuter ending -es. Because the gender and case are already clearly marked by welches, the adjective that follows takes the weak ending -e.
Why use am besten here instead of just das beste?
In this sentence, the word best is describing the verb fährt (how it drives), so it functions as an adverb. In German, the superlative form of an adverb must always be constructed with am and end in -en. You would only use das beste if it were an adjective describing a noun directly, like das beste Auto.
Learn Welches kompakte Auto fährt sich am besten and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free