Breakdown of Die Erinnerung an den Duft der Blumen ist angenehm.
sein
to be
die Blume
the flower
der Duft
the scent
angenehm
pleasant
den
the; (masculine, accusative)
die Erinnerung
the memory
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Questions & Answers about Die Erinnerung an den Duft der Blumen ist angenehm.
Why is Erinnerung preceded by die?
Erinnerung is a feminine noun in German (“memory”), so it takes the definite article die in the singular.
Why do we say an den Duft instead of using a genitive after Erinnerung?
The verb–noun combination Erinnerung an always uses the preposition an plus the accusative. In German you “remember something” with an … erinnern, so you need an den Duft (not a genitive like des Dufts).
What case is den Duft, and why?
Den Duft is masculine singular in the accusative. Duft is a masculine noun, and because it follows an in this fixed expression, it takes the accusative form den.
Why is Blumen in the genitive plural (der Blumen)?
The phrase der Duft der Blumen means “the scent of the flowers.” To show possession (“the flowers’ scent”), German uses the genitive. The definite article for genitive plural is der, giving der Blumen.
Why doesn’t Blumen get another -n ending in the genitive plural?
Blumen already ends in -n in the plural. In German, you don’t add an extra -n if the plural form already has one, so the genitive plural stays Blumen, not Blumenn.
Could you replace der Duft der Blumen with the compound noun Blumenduft? How would the sentence change?
Yes. You can say Die Erinnerung an Blumenduft ist angenehm. Here Blumenduft is a single noun (“flower scent”), so you drop the article der before Blumen and use the compound instead.
Why is angenehm at the end of the sentence?
In German main clauses with sein (“to be”), the predicate adjective comes immediately after the verb. The basic word order is Subject – Verb – Predicate, so you get ist angenehm (“is pleasant”).
Can an ever take the dative instead of the accusative? Why is it accusative here?
As a two-way preposition, an can govern dative (for location) or accusative (for direction/motion). In the fixed expression Erinnerung an …, it always takes the accusative, regardless of spatial meaning—because that’s simply how this idiom works.
Is it possible to use an indefinite article or no article with Duft?
You could say eine Erinnerung an einen Duft von Blumen (“a memory of a scent of flowers”) or eine Erinnerung an Blumenduft. Omitting the article entirely—Erinnerung an Duft—would sound odd; you normally keep an article or make it a compound.
Why is the sentence in the singular—could it be Erinnerungen?
Using the singular Erinnerung expresses the general idea of “a memory” or “the memory.” If you wanted to talk about multiple distinct memories, you could say Die Erinnerungen an den Duft der Blumen sind angenehm. Then you’d change the verb to sind (are).