Word
Das Kunstwerk vollendend, zeigt er eine atemberaubende Skulptur.
Meaning
Completing the artwork, he shows a breathtaking sculpture.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Das Kunstwerk vollendend, zeigt er eine atemberaubende Skulptur.
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
zeigen
to show
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Das Kunstwerk vollendend, zeigt er eine atemberaubende Skulptur.
How does the phrase Das Kunstwerk vollendend function in this sentence?
It is a free participle clause (Partizipialsatz) using the present participle (Partizip I), vollendend. It acts as an adverbial clause describing how or when the main action happens, equivalent to saying 'While completing the artwork' or 'By completing the artwork'. Notice that it is not declined with any adjective endings because it acts as an adverb modifying the action, rather than an adjective modifying a noun.
Why does the main clause start with the verb zeigt right after the comma?
In German, the entire participle clause Das Kunstwerk vollendend occupies the first position in the sentence. To maintain the strict verb-second (V2) rule of main clauses, the conjugated verb zeigt must take the second position, appearing immediately after the comma.
Both vollendend and atemberaubende are present participles. Why does only one have an ending?
Their grammatical roles are different. vollendend acts as an adverbial phrase for the whole sentence, so it remains uninflected. On the other hand, atemberaubende (from the participle atemberaubend, meaning 'breath-taking') is used as an attributive adjective modifying the feminine noun Skulptur. Following the indefinite article eine in the accusative case, it requires the mixed inflection ending -e.
Could this participle clause be translated as 'After completing the artwork'?