Breakdown of Niemand kam auf die Idee, ihn zu fragen.
fragen
to ask
niemand
no one
auf die Idee kommen
to hit on the idea
Questions & Answers about Niemand kam auf die Idee, ihn zu fragen.
Why is the preposition auf used in auf die Idee?
In German, the set phrase for to come up with an idea is auf eine Idee kommen. The preposition auf is used here with the accusative case (die Idee) to express landing or hitting upon that thought.
Why is the verb kam used instead of ist gekommen?
kam is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of kommen. While you will often hear the spoken past (ist gekommen) in casual conversation, the simple past is very common in written German, storytelling, and with certain common verbs like kommen.
Why is there a comma before ihn zu fragen?
The comma separates the main sentence from the extended infinitive clause. In German, when an infinitive with zu has extra elements attached to it, like the object ihn in this case, you generally need to separate that whole phrase with a comma.
Why does the sentence use the accusative ihn instead of the dative ihm?
The verb fragen (to ask) always takes a direct object in the accusative case. This can be tricky to remember because other verbs related to communication, like antworten (to answer) or danken (to thank), take the dative case. But for asking, you always use the accusative.
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