Breakdown of Das Vermögen zweier Aktionäre ist riesig.
sein
to be
zwei
two
das Vermögen
the fortune
riesig
huge
der Aktionär
the shareholder
Questions & Answers about Das Vermögen zweier Aktionäre ist riesig.
Why is it zweier instead of just zwei?
The word zweier is the genitive form of the number zwei. We use the genitive here to express possession (the wealth of two shareholders). When the numbers zwei and drei appear in a genitive phrase without an article like der or meiner to show the case, they take the ending -er.
Why doesn't the noun Aktionäre take an -s ending to show the genitive?
Nouns usually only take an -s or -es ending in the genitive case when they are masculine or neuter singular. Because Aktionäre is plural, it does not get this extra ending. The genitive case is signaled entirely by the -er ending on zweier.
Since the sentence mentions two shareholders, why is the verb ist in the singular form?
The verb must agree with the main subject of the sentence, which is Das Vermögen (the wealth). Because Vermögen is a singular noun, the verb is the singular ist. The genitive phrase zweier Aktionäre just describes whose wealth it is, but it does not change the grammatical subject.
Can I say this using von instead of the genitive zweier?
Yes, in spoken German, people often replace the genitive with von plus the dative case. You could say Das Vermögen von zwei Aktionären. However, using the genitive zweier is more elegant and is the standard choice in formal or written German.
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