Breakdown of Im Grunde genommen wollten alle dasselbe.
alle
all, everyone
wollen
to want
derselbe
the same (m)
im Grunde genommen
basically, when it comes down to it
Questions & Answers about Im Grunde genommen wollten alle dasselbe.
What does genommen add to Im Grunde in this sentence?
Im Grunde genommen is a fixed expression meaning 'basically' or 'fundamentally.' While im Grunde means the same thing on its own, adding the past participle genommen (taken) makes it similar to the English phrase 'fundamentally speaking.' You will also see this pattern in phrases like streng genommen (strictly speaking).
English uses a singular verb for 'everyone', so why is wollten plural here?
In English, 'everyone' is grammatically singular. However, the German equivalent alle literally translates to 'all' and is always treated as a plural pronoun. Therefore, it requires the plural verb form wollten instead of the singular wollte.
Why does the sentence use dasselbe instead of das Gleiche?
This is a very common distinction tested at the B2 level. Dasselbe refers to the exact same identical entity or shared outcome, whereas das Gleiche refers to things of the exact same type (like two people having the same model of phone). Because the people here all shared a desire for one identical outcome, dasselbe is used.
Why is dasselbe in the neuter form here?
When you refer to an abstract concept or an unnamed action like 'the same thing', German defaults to the neuter gender. Notice that dasselbe is written as one word, but it declines as if it were two: the article part (das) and the weak adjective part (selbe). Here it is in the accusative case as the direct object of wollten.
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