Breakdown of Ich markiere Wörter im Text.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
ich
I
das Wort
the word
der Text
the text
markieren
to mark
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Questions & Answers about Ich markiere Wörter im Text.
What does the verb markieren mean and how is markiere formed from it?
The verb markieren means to mark or to highlight. To form the 1st person singular present tense, you remove -en and add the ending -e (the usual ending for ich) to the stem markier-, giving you ich markiere.
Why is the finite verb markiere in the second position in the sentence?
German main clauses obey the “V2” (verb-second) rule: the conjugated verb must occupy the second position. Here, Ich is the first element, so markiere follows immediately.
Why is Wörter in the plural form, and what grammatical case is it?
Wörter is the plural of Wort because you’re marking multiple words, not just one. It functions as the direct object of markiere, so it’s in the accusative case (plural accusative has the same form as plural nominative: die Wörter, but without an article it’s just Wörter).
Could you include an article before Wörter, as in die Wörter? What difference would that make?
Yes. Saying Ich markiere die Wörter im Text specifies particular or previously mentioned words. Omitting the article (Ich markiere Wörter…) makes it indefinite or generic: you’re marking words in general.
Why is the phrase im Text used instead of in dem Text or in den Text?
1) im is the contracted form of in dem.
2) After in, the dative case (dem Text) expresses a location (“where?”).
3) in den Text would be accusative (movement “into” the text), which isn’t intended here.
Why is Text a masculine noun in German?
German nouns have fixed genders that often have to be memorized. Text is masculine (der Text), likely because it comes from the Latin textus, which is masculine.
What’s the difference between Wörter and Worte, and why is Wörter correct here?
Wörter refers to countable individual words (e.g., every single term you can pick out). Worte is used when referring to words as a collective utterance or speech (“his final words”). Since you’re marking each word in the text, you use Wörter.