Breakdown of Er blieb immer ruhig, womit er viele Konflikte zu lösen vermochte.
er
he
viel
much / a lot
immer
always
bleiben
to stay
ruhig
quiet, calm
lösen
to solve
womit
with what
zu
to (infinitive marker)
der Konflikt
the conflict
vermögen
to be able to (formal)
Questions & Answers about Er blieb immer ruhig, womit er viele Konflikte zu lösen vermochte.
Why does this sentence use zu lösen vermochte instead of just lösen konnte?
The verb vermögen is a formal, higher-register synonym for können (to be able to). While können acts as a modal verb and takes a bare infinitive (lösen konnte), vermögen is a standard verb that requires a zu before the infinitive it pairs with (zu lösen vermochte).
What tense is vermochte, and how does this verb conjugate?
vermochte is the simple past (Präteritum) of vermögen. It is conjugated similarly to mögen. Its principal parts are vermögen (infinitive), vermochte (simple past), and vermocht (past participle). Because it belongs to a higher, more literary register, you will frequently see it used in the simple past rather than the spoken perfect tense.
What exactly does womit refer to here?
womit (with which or by means of which) refers back to the entire preceding clause: the fact that he always remained calm. Whenever you need a relative pronoun to refer to a whole idea or action rather than a specific noun, you use a wo-compound (like womit, wodurch, or worüber).
Why is the conjugated verb vermochte placed after zu lösen at the very end of the sentence?
womit introduces a subordinate clause, which forces the conjugated verb (vermochte) to the very end of the sentence. The infinitive phrase (zu lösen) acts as its complement and is placed immediately before it.
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