Breakdown of Sie hat die Wahrheit schnell herausgefunden.
schnell
fast, quickly
haben
to have
die Wahrheit
the truth
herausfinden
to find out
Questions & Answers about Sie hat die Wahrheit schnell herausgefunden.
Why does this sentence use heraus instead of hinaus?
The prefix her- indicates motion toward the speaker, while hin- means away. Figuratively, when you find out a secret like die Wahrheit (the truth), you are pulling that information out of hiding and bringing it toward yourself. Therefore, you use heraus rather than hinaus.
Why is the -ge- in the middle of herausgefunden?
The verb herausfinden (to find out) is a separable verb. When forming the past participle for the perfect tense, the -ge- always squeezes between the separable prefix (heraus-) and the verb root (funden).
Does herausfinden mean literally finding something outside?
It can be used literally, but just like in English, it is most often used figuratively to mean discovering a fact or solving a mystery. You found the truth and brought it out into the open!
Could I put schnell at the very end of the sentence?
No, because the past participle herausgefunden must go at the very end of the sentence. Adverbs describing how something happened, like schnell, come before the final verb.
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