Breakdown of Die Nachbarn wehren sich gegen den Lärm.
der Nachbar
the neighbor (male)
der Lärm
the noise
sich wehren gegen
to defend oneself against
Questions & Answers about Die Nachbarn wehren sich gegen den Lärm.
Why use sich wehren instead of kämpfen for "fighting"?
While kämpfen is a general word for fighting (like in a war or for a cause), sich wehren specifically means to defend oneself, resist, or push back against something. Since the neighbors are reacting defensively to an intrusion, sich wehren is the more accurate choice.
Why does this verb require the reflexive pronoun sich?
In German, the concept of "fighting back" or "resisting" is often expressed reflexively. You can think of sich wehren literally as "defending oneself." It requires the accusative reflexive pronoun, which is sich for the third-person plural.
What case follows the preposition gegen?
The preposition gegen always takes the accusative case. This is why the masculine noun der Lärm changes to its accusative form, den Lärm.
Since der Nachbar is an n-declension noun, how can we tell if Nachbarn is singular or plural in this sentence?
Because n-declension (weak) nouns add an -n or -en in almost all cases—including the accusative and dative singular—you have to look at the surrounding grammar. Here, the plural definite article Die and the plural verb form wehren prove that it is plural. If it were singular, the sentence would be Der Nachbar wehrt sich.
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