Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching German grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Die Behördenmitarbeiter gratulierten uns später schriftlich, worüber wir uns sehr freuten.
Why is Behördenmitarbeiter written as one long word instead of two or three separate words?
German allows the creation of compound nouns by stringing words together. Behördenmitarbeiter combines Behörde (authority/agency) + Mitarbeiter (employee) into a single noun meaning “employees of the authorities.”
Why is the pronoun uns used after gratulierten, and why is it in the dative case?
The verb gratulieren always takes a dative object rather than an accusative. So “to congratulate us” becomes gratulierten uns.
Why is schriftlich (in writing) placed after später (later) rather than before it?
In German, the typical order for adverbs is time → manner → place. Später indicates time, schriftlich indicates manner. Hence später schriftlich (“later, in writing”).
What is worüber, and why is it used instead of just über das or das über?
Worüber is a relative pronoun with a preposition: wo- + über. It introduces a subordinate clause referring back to a non-specific concept (the fact that they wrote). You could rephrase it as über das wir uns freuten, but worüber wir uns freuten is more idiomatic.
Why is the finite verb freuten placed at the end of the clause worüber wir uns sehr freuten?
In German subordinate clauses introduced by a relative pronoun (here worüber), the conjugated verb always moves to the final position.
Why do we say wir uns freuten and not wir uns freuten uns or drop the second uns?
The verb sich freuen is reflexive and needs an accusative reflexive pronoun (uns). Since wir is the subject, uns is the required reflexive object, so you end up with wir uns freuten.
Why is there a comma before worüber?
Any subordinate clause in German is set off by commas. worüber wir uns sehr freuten is a relative clause, so you place a comma before worüber and another at the end if the sentence continued. Here it ends the sentence, so only the opening comma is visible.
What does the whole sentence structure tell us about information flow?
Main clause: Die Behördenmitarbeiter gratulierten uns später schriftlich (who did what, when, and how).
Relative (subordinate) clause: worüber wir uns sehr freuten explains our emotional reaction to that written congratulations. The subordinate clause is placed after a comma and ends with the verb to emphasize the effect on us.