Question 1

Why does the sentence use Jene instead of Diese?

Accepted Answer

Jene is a demonstrative pronoun that translates to "those," pointing to things that are further away in distance or time. If you used diese, you would be saying "these diamonds" (the ones right here). In modern spoken German, people often just use die or die da for "those," making jene sound a bit formal or literary, but it perfectly expresses that the diamonds are distant.

Question 2

Why is it sind ... zu schleifen and not a standard passive?

Accepted Answer

The structure sein + zu + infinitive is a common, elegant way to express that something can or must be done. It acts as a passive alternative. Here, sind leicht zu schleifen means "can be easily cut." If you tried to use a normal passive with a modal verb (können leicht geschliffen werden), it would mean the exact same thing but sound much clunkier.

Question 3

I thought schneiden meant "to cut". Why is schleifen used here?

Accepted Answer

While schneiden is the general word for cutting (like with a knife or scissors), schleifen usually means "to grind," "to sand," or "to polish." When working with gems and diamonds, the stones aren't sliced; their facets are ground down. So in German, you schleifen a diamond rather than schneiden it.

Question 4

Is Diamanten plural here, or is it a weak noun in the singular?

Accepted Answer

It is plural here, which we can tell because the verb is sind (are). However, your suspicion is spot on: der Diamant is a weak noun (an n-declension noun). That means it takes an -en ending in every case except the nominative singular. So "I see the diamond" (singular accusative) would be Ich sehe den Diamanten, which looks identical to the plural form.

Jene Diamanten sind leicht zu schleifen.

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