Breakdown of Der Experte, mit dem ich arbeite, kritisiert das Markenrecht.
ich
I
arbeiten
to work
mit
with
der Experte
the expert
kritisieren
to criticize
das Markenrecht
the trademark law
Questions & Answers about Der Experte, mit dem ich arbeite, kritisiert das Markenrecht.
Why do we use mit dem here instead of mit wem or mit den?
dem is a relative pronoun referring back to the masculine noun Der Experte. Because the preposition mit always triggers the dative case, the relative pronoun must be the dative masculine form dem. You wouldn't use wem because that is an interrogative (question) pronoun, not a standard relative pronoun for pointing back to specific nouns.
Why are there two verbs right next to each other separated by a comma (arbeite, kritisiert)?
The relative clause mit dem ich arbeite is nested inside the main clause, describing the subject. The entire block Der Experte, mit dem ich arbeite counts as position one in the main clause. Because German main clauses strictly require the conjugated verb in position two, the main verb kritisiert must come immediately after the comma.
Experte is a masculine noun ending in -e. Does it follow n-declension (weak noun) rules?
Yes, it does! In this sentence, it is the subject (nominative case), so it remains der Experte. However, if it were the direct object, indirect object, or possessive, it would take an -n ending (for example, Ich frage den Experten).
How could I use the current lesson's preposition ungeachtet to change this to say 'Regardless of the expert I work with, I criticize the trademark law'?
You would say: Ungeachtet des Experten, mit dem ich arbeite, kritisiere ich das Markenrecht. The formal preposition ungeachtet requires the genitive case, which forces the weak noun der Experte to take its n-declension genitive form, des Experten.
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