Breakdown of Wir haben uns zufällig im Zug getroffen.
in
in
haben
to have
wir
we
treffen
to meet
der Zug
the train
zufällig
by chance, random
Questions & Answers about Wir haben uns zufällig im Zug getroffen.
This lesson is about the Adverbial Genitive. Could I use zufälligerweise here instead of zufällig?
Yes, you can! Zufälligerweise is built using the genitive suffix -er plus Weise (manner/way), fitting exactly into the adverbial genitives you are learning. Both zufällig and zufälligerweise mean 'by chance' or 'coincidentally,' and they are completely interchangeable in this sentence.
Doesn't sich treffen usually mean a planned meeting? Why not use begegnen for a chance encounter?
You are right that sich treffen usually implies a planned meeting, while begegnen naturally means to run into someone. However, adding the adverb zufällig overrides that default meaning. Wir haben uns zufällig getroffen is a very common way to express this, though Wir sind uns (zufällig) begegnet would also be perfectly correct.
Why do we say im Zug (in the train) when English says 'on the train'?
German is more literal about physical space here. Because you are enclosed inside the train car, you use the two-way preposition in, which takes the dative case here for a fixed location (merging with dem to form im). German consistently uses in for enclosed public transport like trains, buses, and trams.
What dictates the word order of zufällig and im Zug here?
This follows the standard German word order rule often remembered by the acronym TeKaMoLo (Time, Cause, Manner, Place). Zufällig describes the manner (how the meeting happened), and im Zug describes the place. Therefore, the manner must come before the place.
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