Breakdown of Der Verlust zweier Standorte ist schlimm, was wir bedauern.
sein
to be
wir
we
zwei
two
schlimm
bad / awful (severe)
der Verlust
the loss
bedauern
to regret (feel pity, find unfortunate)
was
which (referring to a whole clause)
der Standort
the location (site)
Questions & Answers about Der Verlust zweier Standorte ist schlimm, was wir bedauern.
Why does zwei have an -er ending here (zweier)?
It is the genitive form of zwei. Normally, cardinal numbers aren't declined, but when zwei or drei are used in the genitive case without a preceding article or pronoun to show the case, they take the ending -er. Here, zweier Standorte translates to "of two locations".
Could I say von zwei Standorten instead of zweier Standorte?
Yes, you can. In everyday spoken German, people frequently replace this specific genitive with von plus the dative case (von zwei Standorten). However, in formal or written German, the true genitive zweier Standorte is strongly preferred and sounds much more professional.
Why is the relative pronoun was used here instead of a normal relative pronoun like das?
We use was as a relative pronoun when it refers back to an entire preceding clause or concept, rather than a specific noun. In this sentence, was refers to the whole tragic fact that "the loss of two locations is bad," rather than to a single neuter noun.
Why use bedauern for "regret" instead of bereuen?
bedauern means to feel sorry or express pity about an unfortunate situation, which fits perfectly here since the speakers are lamenting the loss. bereuen is used when you feel personal guilt, remorse, or repentance for a bad choice or mistake that you personally made.
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