Breakdown of Er wusste die schnelle Übernahme dreier Firmen zu verhindern.
er
he
schnell
fast, quickly
drei
three
die Firma
the company
zu
to (infinitive marker)
verhindern
to prevent
wissen
to know how to (do something)
die Übernahme
the takeover
Questions & Answers about Er wusste die schnelle Übernahme dreier Firmen zu verhindern.
Why is there an -er at the end of drei in this sentence?
How does the verb wissen mean "knew how to" here instead of just "knew"?
When wissen is used with a zu-infinitive (in this case, zu verhindern), it expresses an ability or a skill. It translates to "knowing how to do something" or "being capable of doing it", functioning very much like the modal verb können.
Why is the object die schnelle Übernahme placed before the verb zu verhindern?
In German zu-infinitive phrases, the infinitive verb always goes at the very end of its clause. The entire concept of "preventing the quick takeover of three companies" is treated as a grammatical block, so the direct object die schnelle Übernahme dreier Firmen must be placed right before the verb zu verhindern.
If I forget the form dreier, is there another way to say this?
Yes! In everyday spoken German, it is very common to replace this genitive construction with von plus the dative case. You could say die Übernahme von drei Firmen. The genitive form dreier Firmen sounds more elegant and is typical of formal or written German.
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