Breakdown of Aus diesem Winkel wirkt das Muster schief.
aus
from / out of (made of)
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Muster
the pattern
Questions & Answers about Aus diesem Winkel wirkt das Muster schief.
Why do we use aus instead of von for "from this angle"?
In English, you look "from" an angle, which might make you want to use von. However, German heavily favors aus with Winkel in this context (for example, aus diesem Winkel, aus einem anderen Winkel). You can think of it as looking "out of" a specific viewpoint.
What is the difference between wirken and aussehen in this context?
Both mean "appears" or "looks." Aussehen describes the literal physical appearance. Wirken focuses more on the subjective impression or effect the pattern has on the observer. By using wirkt, the speaker emphasizes that the pattern gives the impression of being crooked from that specific spot.
Our current lesson is about Latin negative prefixes. How could we express a similar idea to schief using one of those?
Schief (crooked) is a native German word without a prefix, but you could swap it for a Latin-derived adjective like irregulär (irregular). Notice how irregulär uses the ir- prefix, which is simply the in- prefix changing its spelling to match the "r" at the start of the root word.
Can Winkel be used metaphorically for a "different angle" on a problem, just like in English?