Breakdown of Den Schweiß auf der Stirn, denkt er an das Geld.
er
he
das Geld
the money
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
denken an
to think about
der Schweiß
the sweat
die Stirn
the forehead
Questions & Answers about Den Schweiß auf der Stirn, denkt er an das Geld.
Why is it Den Schweiß (accusative) at the beginning of the sentence if there is no verb causing it?
This is the absolute accusative. In German, you can describe an accompanying circumstance or physical condition by using a noun phrase in the accusative case, completely without a verb. It translates roughly to "With [noun] [condition]". Here, Den Schweiß auf der Stirn means "With sweat on his forehead".
If the phrase is in the absolute accusative, why does it say auf der Stirn (dative) instead of auf die Stirn?
Even though the main noun of the phrase (den Schweiß) is in the absolute accusative, any prepositional phrases attached to it still follow their normal case rules. The word auf is a two-way preposition, and since the sweat is resting on the forehead (answering "where?" rather than "where to?"), it requires the dative case: der Stirn.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb denkt instead of the subject er?
The entire absolute accusative phrase (Den Schweiß auf der Stirn) occupies position 1 in the sentence. Because German main clauses require the conjugated verb to be in position 2, denkt comes immediately after the comma, and the subject er gets pushed to position 3.
Why do we use an das Geld (accusative) here instead of an dem Geld (dative)?
The verb denken (to think) paired with the preposition an requires the accusative case when you are expressing what someone is thinking about. When two-way prepositions are used in abstract or mental processes rather than physical locations, they almost always take the accusative, so it has to be an das Geld.
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