Breakdown of Sie pflegen beim Mittagessen zu schweigen, um Bescheidenheit zu zeigen.
sie
they
zeigen
to show
beim
at the (bei + dem)
das Mittagessen
the lunch
Questions & Answers about Sie pflegen beim Mittagessen zu schweigen, um Bescheidenheit zu zeigen.
Doesn't pflegen usually mean "to care for" or "to maintain"? Why does it mean "accustomed to" here?
You are right that the primary meaning of pflegen is to care for something, like Kranke pflegen. However, when combined with zu and an infinitive, it takes on a formal meaning of "to usually do something" or "to be in the habit of doing something". In this sentence, pflegen ... zu schweigen translates to "are accustomed to remaining silent".
There are two zu phrases in this sentence. Are they both connected to pflegen?
No, they serve completely different grammatical functions. The first one, zu schweigen, pairs directly with pflegen to form the habitual action. The second one, um ... zu zeigen, is a separate purpose clause meaning "in order to show". You will often see multiple infinitive clauses stacking up in complex German sentences like this.
Why is beim Mittagessen used for "during lunch"? Could I use während instead?
Yes, you could say während des Mittagessens using the genitive case. However, using bei plus the dative case (merged here into beim) is an extremely common and natural way in German to express that an action happens concurrently with an event. This is especially true for meals or activities, such as saying beim Arbeiten for "while working".
If pflegen zu is highly formal, how would I express this same habit in a normal everyday conversation?