Breakdown of Er hatte das Reagenzglas gereinigt.
er
he
haben
to have
reinigen
to clean (formally, thoroughly)
das Reagenzglas
the test tube
Questions & Answers about Er hatte das Reagenzglas gereinigt.
Since this lesson is about hier- compounds, how would I add 'with this' to the sentence?
You would use hiermit (with this). The sentence becomes: Er hatte das Reagenzglas hiermit gereinigt. You use hiermit instead of mit diesem when referring to an inanimate object, like a specific brush or chemical you just mentioned.
Why does this sentence use hatte gereinigt instead of hat gereinigt?
This is the Plusquamperfekt (Past Perfect) tense, meaning 'had cleaned' rather than 'has cleaned'. Just like in English, it is used to show that this action was completely finished before another event in the past took place (such as before an experiment started).
Why use reinigen here instead of a common word for cleaning like putzen?
Reinigen sounds more formal, technical, and thorough than putzen. While you would normally use putzen for your shoes or a bathroom, reinigen is the natural choice for a laboratory setting where a test tube (das Reagenzglas) needs to be chemically clean.
How is the word Reagenzglas formed?
It combines Reagenz (reagent, which is a substance used in chemical reactions) and Glas (glass). Because the final word is das Glas, the entire compound noun takes the neuter gender (das Reagenzglas).