Breakdown of Zweitens wollte er unser Potenzial zeigen.
er
he
unser
our
wollen
to want
zeigen
to show
zweitens
secondly
das Potenzial
the potential
Questions & Answers about Zweitens wollte er unser Potenzial zeigen.
How does zweitens affect the word order of this sentence?
The word zweitens is an adverb meaning 'secondly', created by adding the suffix -ns to the ordinal number zweite. Because it occupies the first position in the sentence, the conjugated verb wollte must come immediately after it to satisfy the strict verb-second rule. This pushes the subject er into the third position.
Why does the possessive determiner unser not have an ending here?
The word unser modifies the noun Potenzial, which is neuter (das Potenzial) and serves as the direct object of the sentence, putting it in the accusative case. In German, neuter nouns in both the nominative and accusative cases take the base form of possessive determiners, so unser gets no extra ending here.
Is the spelling Potenzial correct, or shouldn't it be Potential like in English?
Both spellings are actually correct in German. However, Potenzial with a z is the recommended and most common spelling today. It was updated to reflect the German pronunciation, where the 't' before an 'i' in loanwords makes a 'ts' sound, which is exactly how a z is pronounced in German.
Why is the simple past form wollte used here instead of the spoken past?
The word wollte is the Präteritum (simple past) form of the modal verb wollen. While German speakers generally prefer the Perfekt (spoken past) for most verbs in everyday conversation, modal verbs are a major exception. Speakers almost always use the Präteritum for modals because the Perfekt structure with a double infinitive (like hat unser Potenzial zeigen wollen) is unnecessarily complicated and clunky.
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