Breakdown of Der Chef dreier Startups weiß zu überzeugen.
drei
three
der Chef
the boss (male)
zu
to (infinitive marker)
überzeugen
to convince
das Startup
the startup
wissen
to know how to (do something)
Questions & Answers about Der Chef dreier Startups weiß zu überzeugen.
Why is it dreier Startups instead of just drei Startups?
The phrase means "of three startups", so we need the genitive case to show possession. Because there is no article like der before the number to show the case, the number drei has to do the heavy lifting. It takes the genitive plural ending -er, becoming dreier.
Is it possible to avoid the genitive and use von here?
Yes. In everyday spoken German, you will often hear Der Chef von drei Startups, which uses the preposition von plus the dative case. However, using the genitive dreier sounds much more elegant and is the standard for professional written German.
Why does the sentence use weiß zu überzeugen instead of kann überzeugen?
While kann überzeugen (is able to convince) is completely correct, using wissen zu followed by an infinitive is a slightly more advanced structure. It translates to "knows how to do something" and emphasizes that the boss has the specific skill, tact, or knack for convincing people.
Why does the plural of Startup end in -s?
English loanwords in German generally take an -s in the plural, regardless of their gender or what case they are in. You will see the exact same pattern in words like die Laptops or die Meetings.
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