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Questions & Answers about Leider sind wir schon gestern verspätet abgereist und haben den Termin fast verpasst.
What is the role of leider at the beginning of the sentence?
Leider translates to "unfortunately" and is used to set a regretful or apologetic tone. Its placement at the very start emphasizes that the actions described are seen as unfortunate or problematic.
Why is the auxiliary verb sind used with abgereist, while haben is used with verpasst?
In German perfect tense, some verbs take sein while others take haben as their auxiliary. The verb "abreisen" (to depart) generally involves a change or movement and thus uses sein. In contrast, "verpassen" (to miss) does not indicate a movement or change of state in the same way, so it takes haben.
What does the phrase schon gestern mean, and why is it included in the sentence?
Schon gestern means "already yesterday." It specifies the time when the action occurred and often adds an element of surprise or emphasis, suggesting that the event happened quite soon (as early as yesterday) and perhaps earlier than expected.
How is the adverb verspätet functioning in the sentence?
Verspätet describes the nature of the departure, indicating that it was delayed. It modifies the past participle "abgereist" by providing additional detail about how the departure occurred, effectively meaning "departed late" or "departed with a delay."
What is the role and placement of fast in the second clause?
Fast means "almost" and is used to qualify the verb "verpasst", showing that the appointment was nearly missed. Its placement after the object "den Termin" is typical in German sentence structure, where adverbs that modify the verb often appear in the Mittelfeld (middle field) before the past participle.
How are the two clauses in this sentence structured in terms of word order and tense?
The sentence is composed of two independent clauses connected by und ("and"). Both clauses are in the perfect tense. In the first clause, "sind" appears early after the subject, and the past participle "abgereist" is positioned at the end. In the second clause, after und, the auxiliary "haben" comes first, followed by the object "den Termin", then the adverb "fast", and finally the past participle "verpasst" at the end. This structure aligns with typical German word order for perfect sentences.