Breakdown of Dieser Staudamm gehört sofort repariert, solange das Wetter gut bleibt.
gut
good / well
das Wetter
the weather
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
bleiben
to stay
sofort
immediately
reparieren
to repair
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
solange
as long as
gehören
to need to be (done)
der Staudamm
the dam
Questions & Answers about Dieser Staudamm gehört sofort repariert, solange das Wetter gut bleibt.
Why does this sentence use gehört repariert instead of muss repariert werden?
Using the verb gehören followed by a Past Participle (like repariert) is an alternative way to express a passive voice with a modal meaning. It translates to 'needs to be done' or 'ought to be done'. It carries the exact same meaning as muss sofort repariert werden, but is slightly more colloquial and very common in everyday spoken German.
Does gehören still mean 'to belong to' in this context?
Not literally. Normally, gehören paired with a Dative object indicates possession (for example, Das Auto gehört mir). However, when you see gehören paired directly with a Past Participle at the end of the clause, its meaning shifts entirely to 'needs to be' or 'requires'.
Why use solange instead of während?
solange translates to 'as long as' and sets a time limit or condition for the action, emphasizing that the repair must happen before the weather turns bad. während simply means 'while'. If you used während, it would just casually state that the repairing and the good weather are happening simultaneously, which loses the urgent, conditional meaning of the sentence.
How does bleiben fit into the pattern of strong vs. weak verbs we are learning?
bleiben is a strong, intransitive verb (it takes no direct object, and its vowel shifts: bleiben, blieb, ist geblieben). While this lesson focuses on confusing transitive/intransitive verb pairs (like the weak legen vs. the strong liegen), it is helpful to note that bleiben stands alone. It does not have a weak, transitive counterpart, so you only need to memorize its strong conjugation!
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