Breakdown of Der Kollege arbeitet geduldig am Dokument.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
arbeiten
to work
der Kollege
the colleague
an
on
das Dokument
the document
geduldig
patient
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Questions & Answers about Der Kollege arbeitet geduldig am Dokument.
What case is am Dokument, and why is the article contracted to am?
“am” is a contraction of an dem, showing the preposition an plus the dative article dem. When an expresses a static location or “working on” something, it takes the dative case. Hence dem Dokument becomes am Dokument.
Why is geduldig not inflected like an adjective (e.g. geduldiger)?
In German, adjectives used as adverbs remain in their base form and do not take endings. Here geduldig modifies the verb arbeitet, so it’s functioning as an adverb: “(he works) patiently,” without any adjective ending.
Why is it der Kollege and not die Kollege?
Kollege is a masculine noun. In the nominative singular, masculine nouns take the article der. If you meant a female colleague, you would say die Kollegin. The plural of Kollege (regardless of gender) is die Kollegen.
Why do we need an in arbeitet am Dokument? Can’t we say just arbeitet das Dokument?
The verb arbeiten can stand alone (“to work”), but to specify what someone is working on in German, you normally use arbeiten an plus the dative:
- ohne Objekt: Er arbeitet viel.
- mit Objekt: Er arbeitet an dem Dokument.
Dropping an (i.e. arbeitet das Dokument) would be ungrammatical, because arbeiten does not take a direct object in that sense.
What is the word order in Der Kollege arbeitet geduldig am Dokument?
This is a main clause with typical V2 (verb-second) word order:
- Subject: Der Kollege
- Finite verb: arbeitet
- Adverb: geduldig
- Prepositional phrase: am Dokument
Adverbs often follow immediately after the verb, before objects or prepositional phrases.
Could we reorder the sentence, for example Der Kollege arbeitet am Dokument geduldig?
Grammatically it’s possible, but less natural. Placing geduldig before am Dokument keeps focus on the manner of working. If you put geduldig at the end, it may sound slightly awkward or emphasize geduldig unusually. The standard order is verb – adverb – object/PP.
If you replace Kollege with a pronoun, how would the sentence look?
You would simply swap in the nominative pronoun er for der Kollege:
Er arbeitet geduldig am Dokument.