Breakdown of Wir möchten nächstes Jahr ganz Afrika filmen, anstatt nur in Europa zu bleiben.
in
in
wir
we
das Jahr
the year
möchten
would like
bleiben
to stay
nur
only
ganz
quite, completely; whole
zu
to (infinitive marker)
anstatt
instead of
nächste
next
Europa
Europe
filmen
to film
Afrika
Africa
Questions & Answers about Wir möchten nächstes Jahr ganz Afrika filmen, anstatt nur in Europa zu bleiben.
Why is it ganz Afrika instead of ganzes Afrika?
This is a special exception in German grammar. When the adjectives ganz (whole/all of) or halb (half of) are used directly before a geographical name that doesn't take an article (like most continents, countries, and cities), they do not take any declension endings. So you say ganz Afrika instead of adding the usual neuter accusative ending.
Why do we use nächstes Jahr without a preposition to mean 'next year'?
In German, definite time phrases are often expressed using just the accusative case, which is called the accusative of time. You don't need a preposition. Since Jahr is a neuter noun, the adjective nächste takes the neuter accusative ending -es to become nächstes.
How does the anstatt ... zu construction work here?
The phrase anstatt ... zu translates to 'instead of [doing something]'. It forms an infinitive clause. The word anstatt introduces the clause after the comma, and zu is placed immediately before the infinitive verb at the very end of the sentence (zu bleiben).
Is Europa in the accusative or dative case after in here?
It is in the dative case. The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because the verb bleiben (to stay) describes a stationary location rather than movement towards a goal, in takes the dative case to answer the question 'where?' (wo?).
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