Word
In diesem abgelegenen Kloster widmen sie sich der Bescheidenheit.
Meaning
In this remote monastery, they dedicate themselves to modesty.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of In diesem abgelegenen Kloster widmen sie sich der Bescheidenheit.
in
in
sie
they
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about In diesem abgelegenen Kloster widmen sie sich der Bescheidenheit.
Why is der Bescheidenheit in the dative case here?
The reflexive verb sich widmen (to dedicate oneself to) requires a dative object for the thing you are dedicating yourself to. Instead of using a preposition like 'to' in English, German simply puts the noun die Bescheidenheit into the dative case (der Bescheidenheit).
Is the reflexive pronoun sich accusative or dative here?
It is in the accusative case. The grammatical structure is sich (Akk.) einer Sache (Dat.) widmen. They are dedicating themselves (direct object, accusative) to modesty (dative object). At B2, recognizing whether a reflexive pronoun is accusative or dative is key to mastering verbs that take multiple objects.
Why does the adjective abgelegenen end in -en?
The phrase In diesem abgelegenen Kloster is in the dative case because the two-way preposition in indicates a fixed location here (answering 'where?'). Because the demonstrative pronoun diesem already shows the strong neuter dative ending, the adjective abgelegen takes the weak ending, which is always -en in the dative case.
Why does the verb widmen come before the subject sie?