Breakdown of Er schnappte sich meine Tasche und rannte davon.
und
and
die Tasche
the bag
mein
my
rennen
to run
schnappen
to grab, to catch (colloquial)
Questions & Answers about Er schnappte sich meine Tasche und rannte davon.
Why is there a sich here? Couldn't we just say Er schnappte meine Tasche?
You could say Er schnappte meine Tasche, but adding the reflexive pronoun makes it sich etwas schnappen, which translates closer to "to snatch something for oneself." This is a very common, slightly colloquial way to emphasize the suddenness of the action and the fact that the person took it into their own possession.
Is the reflexive pronoun sich in the accusative or the dative case?
It is in the dative case. In German, if a reflexive verb already has a direct object in the accusative case (here, the bag: meine Tasche), the reflexive pronoun shifts to the dative case to show who the action is done for.
What is the role of davon at the end of the sentence?
It is the separated prefix of the verb davonrennen (to run away or run off). Because the sentence is an independent clause in the simple past tense, the separable prefix detaches from the conjugated verb (rannte) and moves to the very end of the sentence.
Why is the simple past form rannte instead of "rennte"?
rennen is what we call a "mixed verb." These verbs are tricky because they mix features of regular and irregular verbs. Like regular verbs, it takes a standard -te ending for the past tense, but like irregular verbs, its stem vowel changes (from e to a). Other common mixed verbs you should know at B2 include kennen (kannte) and denken (dachte).
Learn Er schnappte sich meine Tasche und rannte davon and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free