Word
Dieser kompakte Bus lenkt sich wunderbar.
Meaning
This compact bus steers wonderfully.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Dieser kompakte Bus lenkt sich wunderbar.
der Bus
the bus
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
sich
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)
wunderbar
wonderful
Questions & Answers about Dieser kompakte Bus lenkt sich wunderbar.
How does lenkt sich function as a passive alternative in this sentence?
Literally, this means the bus steers itself. However, German often uses a reflexive verb combined with an adverb like wunderbar, gut, or leicht to express that something can be done to the subject. It replaces the passive voice and focuses on an inherent characteristic of the bus: it is wonderfully easy to steer.
Could I just use the standard passive and say Dieser kompakte Bus wird wunderbar gelenkt?
You could, but it changes the meaning. The standard passive (wird gelenkt) means that the bus is currently being steered wonderfully by a specific driver right now. The reflexive construction (lenkt sich) describes a built-in quality of the bus itself, meaning it has the potential to be steered wonderfully by anyone.
Can any verb be turned into a passive alternative this way?
No, this reflexive trick works best with transitive verbs (verbs that normally take a direct object, like steering a bus) when you want to describe a general quality of the object. It is almost always paired with an evaluating adverb like gut, schlecht, or in this case, wunderbar.
Why does the adjective kompakte end in -e instead of -er for a masculine noun?