Breakdown of Der schwache Hund musste dringend am Magen operiert werden.
der Hund
the dog
müssen
to have to, must
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
schwach
weak
dringend
urgent / urgently
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
der Magen
the stomach (the organ)
operieren
to operate (medically / surgically)
Questions & Answers about Der schwache Hund musste dringend am Magen operiert werden.
How is the past passive constructed with the modal verb in this sentence?
The modal verb (müssen) is conjugated in the simple past (Präteritum) and takes the second position as musste. The passive structure gets pushed to the very end as a passive infinitive, which consists of the past participle (operiert) plus the infinitive werden.
Why do we use the preposition am (an + dem) for 'on the stomach'?
The German phrase for 'to operate on' a body part is operieren an followed by the dative case. Because stomach is masculine (der Magen), it becomes dem Magen in the dative, and an + dem contracts to am.
Why is the past participle operiert instead of geoperiert?
German verbs ending in -ieren are usually adopted from other languages and follow a special rule: their past participles never take the ge- prefix. They simply end with a -t.
Just to review, why does the adjective have an -e ending in Der schwache Hund instead of -er?
Because the definite article (Der) already shows us the gender and case (masculine nominative), the adjective only needs a weak ending, which is -e. You would only use the strong ending -er if there were no article to do that job, like in the phrase schwacher Hund.
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