Breakdown of Jenes Material ist schwierig zu schleifen.
sein
to be
zu
to (infinitive marker)
schwierig
difficult
das Material
the material
jenes
that (n)
schleifen
to cut (diamonds, gemstones)
Questions & Answers about Jenes Material ist schwierig zu schleifen.
Why use Jenes here instead of just Das?
While spoken German often just stresses the definite article (DAS Material) to mean "that material," jenes is a demonstrative pronoun that explicitly emphasizes distance or contrast. It specifically means "that material (over there)" as opposed to dieses ("this one here"). It tends to sound a bit more formal or written than just using das.
How do we know to use the -es ending on Jenes?
Jener (that) takes the same endings as the definite articles (der, die, das). Because Material is a neuter noun (das Material) and acts as the subject of this sentence (nominative case), the word takes the neuter nominative ending -es, resulting in jenes.
Doesn't schleifen usually mean "to grind" or "to sand"? Why is it translated as "to cut"?
You are right that schleifen commonly means "to sand," "to grind," or "to sharpen" (like a knife). However, when working with hard materials like glass, crystals, or gemstones, the careful process of shaping them is called "cutting" in English (e.g., cutting a diamond). In German, this specific action is also schleifen.
Is schwierig zu schleifen a specific grammatical construction?
Yes, it follows the pattern sein (to be) + adjective + zu + infinitive. Luckily, it mirrors English perfectly ("is difficult to cut"). You will frequently see this structure paired with adjectives like schwer (hard), leicht (easy), or teuer (expensive) to express how an action relates back to a subject.
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