Ich finde die Quelle des Flusses im Wald.

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Questions & Answers about Ich finde die Quelle des Flusses im Wald.

Why is Quelle in the accusative case?
  • The verb finden is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative
  • Here die Quelle is what is being found, so it appears in the accusative feminine singular
Why is des Flusses in the genitive case and how is it formed?
  • des Flusses shows possession or origin of the river
  • To form the genitive singular of masculine der Fluss, change the article to des and add -es to Fluss, yielding des Flusses
Why is Flusses spelled with double s and not ß?
  • Modern German orthography uses ss (not ß) after short vowels
  • In the genitive you keep that ss and add -es, giving Flusses
What does im stand for, and why is this phrase in the dative?
  • im is the contraction of in dem
  • The preposition in takes the dative when indicating location (answering wo?), so you get dem Wald
Why not use in den Wald, and when would that be correct?
  • in den Wald is accusative and indicates movement into the forest (answering wohin?)
  • Here there is no motion; you are located inside the forest, so you use the dative form im Wald
Can I write in dem Wald instead of im Wald?
  • Yes. in dem Wald is grammatically correct but less common in speech
  • Native speakers usually contract it to im Wald
Could I say die Flussquelle instead of die Quelle des Flusses?
  • Yes. German often forms compound nouns
  • Flussquelle means river source, so you can say Ich finde die Flussquelle im Wald
Can I start the sentence with Im Wald, and what happens to the word order?
  • German main clauses follow the verb-second rule
  • If you put Im Wald first, the verb stays second:
    Im Wald finde ich die Quelle des Flusses
What’s the difference between finden and entdecken in this context?
  • finden means to find or locate something, often after looking for it
  • entdecken means to discover something new or previously unknown
When would you use eine Quelle des Flusses instead of die Quelle des Flusses?
  • Use eine (indefinite) when referring to one among multiple sources or in a non-specific sense
  • Use die (definite) when talking about a particular or known source