Breakdown of Hör auf, das ist mir zu unrealistisch!
sein
to be
zu
too (e.g., too big)
mir
me / to me (dative)
aufhören
to stop (doing something)
unrealistisch
unrealistic
Questions & Answers about Hör auf, das ist mir zu unrealistisch!
Why do we use the dative mir here instead of für mich?
This is the "dative of viewpoint". When you want to express that something exceeds your personal limit or taste, German commonly uses a dative pronoun (like mir) combined with zu and an adjective. While Das ist zu unrealistisch für mich is grammatically correct and means the same thing, using mir is much more natural and idiomatic in everyday German.
Could this sentence work without the word zu, like "das ist mir unrealistisch"?
Generally, no. This specific dative structure needs an anchor that shows a scale or comparison. Words like zu (too) or genug (enough) provide that scale. If you drop zu, the sentence sounds off. To simply say "That is unrealistic to me" without the "too", you would use a different structure entirely, such as Ich finde das unrealistisch or Das wirkt auf mich unrealistisch.
Where does the dative pronoun have to sit in this sentence? Could I say "das ist zu unrealistisch mir"?
No, you cannot put it at the end. Dative and accusative pronouns in German are "light" words that want to be as close to the conjugated verb as possible. In this clause, the conjugated verb is ist, so mir needs to tuck in right behind it. Placing it at the very end sounds unnatural.
Quick refresher: Why is it Hör auf and not Hörst du auf or Aufhör?
This is the informal singular (du) imperative (command) form of the separable verb aufhören (to stop). To form it, you take the present tense du hörst auf, then drop both the pronoun du and the -st ending, leaving you with Hör auf. You could technically add an 'e' (Höre auf), but that 'e' is almost always dropped in modern spoken German.
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