Breakdown of Der Direktor kommt nebst allen Artisten an.
alle
all, everyone
ankommen
to arrive
der Direktor
the director (company, school)
nebst
alongside / together with (in addition to)
der Artist
the circus artist / the performer
Questions & Answers about Der Direktor kommt nebst allen Artisten an.
How does nebst differ from just using mit?
Both take the dative case, but nebst is much more formal and translates closer to "along with" or "including." It is used to show that something is an addition or an accompaniment to the main subject, rather than an equal partner in the action.
If multiple people are arriving, why is the verb singular (kommt) instead of plural (kommen)?
Because the grammatical subject is only the singular noun der Direktor. Unlike the conjunction und, nebst is a preposition. The phrase nebst allen Artisten is just a prepositional object adding extra information, so it doesn't change the verb's conjugation to plural.
Does Artist mean "artist" like a painter or sculptor?
Usually not! Artist is a classic false friend for English speakers. In German, it refers specifically to a circus performer, acrobat, or physical entertainer. If you want to talk about a fine artist like a painter, you would use the word Künstler.
Why does the noun end in -en in allen Artisten?
The preposition nebst requires the dative case, so we need the dative plural form here. Additionally, der Artist is a weak masculine noun (part of the N-declension group). This means it takes an -en suffix in every single case except the nominative singular. Even if the director arrived with just one performer (nebst einem Artisten), it would still end in -en.
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