Breakdown of Der Student macht einen Fehler in der Übung, doch der Lehrer gibt eine klare Erklärung.
in
in
machen
to make
geben
to give
einen
a
Questions & Answers about Der Student macht einen Fehler in der Übung, doch der Lehrer gibt eine klare Erklärung.
Why is Der Student used at the beginning? What case is it?
Der Student is the subject of the first clause and therefore in the nominative case. Since Student is masculine singular, the definite article is der in the nominative.
Why does the sentence have einen Fehler instead of ein Fehler?
Fehler is the direct object of macht, so it takes the accusative case. Because Fehler is masculine singular, the indefinite article ein changes to einen in the accusative: einen Fehler.
Why is it in der Übung? Why the dative case here?
The preposition in requires the dative when indicating location (where something happens). Übung (exercise) is feminine; its article die becomes der in the dative singular, giving in der Übung.
Why is there a comma before doch? I thought commas weren’t used before coordinating conjunctions like aber.
True, German normally omits the comma before coordinating conjunctions (aber, und, oder, doch). However, placing a comma before doch is allowed (and often recommended for clarity) in formal writing. It’s optional, not mandatory.