Breakdown of Hast du Fritz' Duschgel gesehen, bevor du die Tür zugemacht hast?
du
you (informal singular)
haben
to have
sehen
to see
die Tür
the door
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
bevor
before
zumachen
to shut (everyday: mach zu!)
Fritz
Fritz
das Duschgel
the shower gel
Questions & Answers about Hast du Fritz' Duschgel gesehen, bevor du die Tür zugemacht hast?
Why is there an apostrophe on Fritz' instead of the usual genitive "s"?
Normally, German names take an -s to show possession (like Annas Duschgel). However, because Fritz ends in a -z (which produces an s-sound), adding another -s would be awkward to pronounce. For names ending in s-sounds (-s, -ß, -x, or -z), German spelling rules require using just an apostrophe to show the genitive case.
Because the apostrophe is silent, does Fritz' Duschgel sound exactly like Fritz Duschgel when speaking?
Yes, it does! Because this can sometimes be confusing in conversation, German speakers often avoid the apostrophe form entirely when speaking. Instead, they use a dative construction with von: Hast du das Duschgel von Fritz gesehen?
Let's review zugemacht. Why is the -ge- tucked inside the word?
The verb is zumachen (to close), which is a separable verb made of zu- + machen. When you form the past participle of a separable verb, the -ge- gets sandwiched between the separable prefix and the main verb stem, resulting in zu-ge-macht.
Why does the second clause end with zugemacht hast instead of hast zugemacht?
The second part of the sentence is introduced by bevor (before), which is a subordinating conjunction. This kind of connecting word always forces the conjugated verb (in this case, the helper verb hast) out of its normal second position and pushes it to the very end of the clause.
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