Breakdown of Die Waffe hat den Eindringling verletzt.
haben
to have
die Waffe
the weapon
verletzen
to injure
der Eindringling
the intruder
Questions & Answers about Die Waffe hat den Eindringling verletzt.
Why does this sentence use den Eindringling?
The noun Eindringling (intruder) ends in the suffix -ling. Nouns ending in -ling are predictably masculine, so its basic form is der Eindringling. Because the intruder is the direct object receiving the action in this sentence, the article changes to the accusative masculine form den.
If the weapon had injured multiple intruders, how would the sentence change?
It would become: Die Waffe hat die Eindringlinge verletzt. Masculine nouns ending in -ling form their regular plural simply by adding an -e at the end. They do not take an umlaut. The accusative plural article is die.
How is the noun Eindringling formed?
It comes from the separable verb eindringen, which means to intrude, penetrate, or break in. The suffix -ling is frequently added to verb stems or adjectives to create a noun describing a person characterized by that action or trait.
Why doesn't the past participle verletzt start with ge- like most past tense verbs?
The infinitive verb is verletzen (to injure), which starts with the inseparable prefix ver-. Verbs with inseparable prefixes (such as ver-, be-, ent-, and er-) never take the ge- prefix when forming their past participle.
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