Breakdown of Wir pflegen unseren Tagesablauf mit einem langen Gebet zu beginnen.
ein
a, an (eine)
wir
we
unser
our
mit
with
lang
long
zu
to (infinitive marker)
beginnen
to begin (formal, more than anfangen)
der Tagesablauf
the daily routine
pflegen
to be accustomed to (doing)
das Gebet
the prayer
Questions & Answers about Wir pflegen unseren Tagesablauf mit einem langen Gebet zu beginnen.
Doesn't pflegen usually mean "to care for"? Why is it translated as "accustomed to" here?
Yes, in everyday German, pflegen means to care for someone or maintain something. However, when you use pflegen followed by zu and an infinitive verb (here, zu beginnen), it changes to a formal expression meaning "to be in the habit of doing something" or "to be accustomed to".
Is the pflegen zu structure used a lot in daily conversation?
Not really. It is quite formal and elevated. In everyday spoken German, you would more likely hear an adverb like normalerweise (normally) or gewöhnlich (usually), such as Wir beginnen unseren Tagesablauf normalerweise mit...
Why does langen end in -en in the phrase mit einem langen Gebet?
The preposition mit always triggers the dative case. Because Gebet is a neuter noun (das Gebet), the indefinite article becomes einem. When an adjective follows a dative article like einem, it must take the weak adjective ending, which is always -en.
How does the word order work with pflegen zu in this sentence?
It acts similarly to a modal verb. The conjugated verb pflegen takes the standard second position. The action being performed as a habit (beginnen) is pushed to the very end of the clause, with zu placed directly in front of it. All the objects and descriptions are sandwiched in between.
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