Breakdown of Mein Onkel hat mir in der Apotheke geholfen, weil ich dort zum ersten Mal Medikamente gekauft habe.
dort
there
in
in
ich
I
zu
to
kaufen
to buy
weil
because
mein
my
mir
me
helfen
to help
der Onkel
the uncle
das Medikament
the medication
die Apotheke
the pharmacy
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Questions & Answers about Mein Onkel hat mir in der Apotheke geholfen, weil ich dort zum ersten Mal Medikamente gekauft habe.
Why is “mir” used in the sentence, and what case does it represent?
“Mir” is the dative form of “ich.” In German, the verb helfen always takes an indirect object in the dative case. That’s why “mir” is used to indicate “to me,” showing who benefited from the help.
Why is the phrase “in der Apotheke” used with “der” instead of another article form?
The preposition in can govern either the accusative or the dative case. When indicating a static location—as in “in the pharmacy”—German uses the dative case. Because Apotheke is a feminine noun, its dative form is der Apotheke, so the phrase means “in the pharmacy.”
Why is there a comma before “weil,” and how does it affect the word order in that clause?
A comma is required before weil because it introduces a subordinate clause. In German, subordinate clauses have a different word order: the conjugated verb is placed at the end. Thus, in the clause “weil ich dort zum ersten Mal Medikamente gekauft habe,” the verb “gekauft habe” comes at the end.
How is the perfect tense structured in this sentence, and why is it used?
Both the main clause and the subordinate clause use the perfect tense to express completed actions in the past. In the main clause “Mein Onkel hat mir geholfen,” the perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary hat and the past participle geholfen. Similarly, in the subordinate clause “weil ich dort zum ersten Mal Medikamente gekauft habe,” the auxiliary habe combines with the past participle gekauft, which is positioned at the end due to the subordinate clause's word order. This tense is common in spoken German for past events.
What does “zum ersten Mal” mean, and why is it placed where it is in the sentence?
Zum ersten Mal translates to “for the first time.” It’s a fixed expression used to emphasize that the action of buying medication occurred for the first time. Its placement after “dort” (there) helps clarify the sequence of events, indicating that the speaker’s purchase in the pharmacy was a first-time experience.