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Questions & Answers about Ich bewege meinen Fuß langsam.
Why is bewege placed as the second element in the sentence, right after Ich?
German main clauses follow the “V2” (verb‑second) rule: the finite verb must appear in the second slot. Since Ich is in the first slot (the subject), bewege comes immediately after.
Why is meinen Fuß in the accusative case, and why does mein change to meinen?
Bewegen is a transitive verb—it takes a direct object in the accusative. Fuß is masculine, so the possessive mein must take the masculine accusative ending ‑en, giving meinen Fuß.
Why is langsam not inflected (for example, langsame Fuß) like an adjective before a noun?
Here langsam is an adverb modifying the verb bewegen (“how” you move). Adverbs never take adjective endings; only attributive adjectives (those directly describing a noun) do.
Could I also say Ich bewege langsam meinen Fuß? Would that change the emphasis or meaning?
Yes, both word orders are grammatically correct. By placing langsam before meinen Fuß, you put slightly more emphasis on the manner (“slowly”). The default Ich bewege meinen Fuß langsam focuses first on what you move, then how.
Why isn’t this sentence reflexive, for example Ich bewege mich?
Sich bewegen (reflexively) means “to move oneself” in general (“I’m moving around”). When you specify a body part as an object (your foot), you use the transitive form without a reflexive pronoun.
Why is Fuß capitalized, and why does it use ß instead of ss?
All German nouns are capitalized, regardless of position. The letter ß follows a long vowel (the “u” in Fuß is long). After short vowels, German uses ss instead.
Could I drop the possessive pronoun and say Ich bewege den Fuß, or even Ich bewege Fuß?
German generally requires a determiner before a noun. You could say Ich bewege den Fuß if context makes clear which foot you mean, but Ich bewege Fuß (without any article or pronoun) is ungrammatical here.
How do I express this sentence in the past tense?
Simple past (Präteritum): Ich bewegte meinen Fuß langsam. In spoken German, the perfect (Perfekt) is more common: Ich habe meinen Fuß langsam bewegt.