Breakdown of Sie weiß einfühlsam mit der Klientin zu sprechen.
sie
she
sprechen
to speak
mit
with
zu
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Sie weiß einfühlsam mit der Klientin zu sprechen.
Why use weiß ... zu sprechen instead of just kann ... sprechen?
Using wissen plus zu and an infinitive is an elegant way to express that someone has the skill or tact to do something. While Sie kann sprechen just means "She is able to speak," Sie weiß zu sprechen translates closer to "She knows how to speak," emphasizing her interpersonal skills.
Is this sentence structure a shortened version of another phrase?
Yes! This construction is a more concise and slightly elevated equivalent to a subordinate clause using wie (how). You could also say: Sie weiß, wie sie einfühlsam mit der Klientin sprechen kann.
How does the word einfühlsam get its meaning?
It is built from the separable verb sich einfühlen, which means to empathize or put oneself in someone else's shoes. The suffix -sam turns verbs or nouns into adjectives (similar to "-ful" in English). Thus, it describes someone who is full of empathy.
Why does the sentence use der before Klientin if the client is female?
The preposition mit always forces the following noun into the dative case. The feminine noun die Klientin changes its article to der in the dative. Even at the B2 level, it is easy to accidentally read der and assume a masculine noun, but here it simply marks the feminine dative.