Breakdown of Diese Farbe passt gut zum Sofa.
das Sofa
the sofa
diese
this
gut
well
die Farbe
the color
passen
to suit
zum
to the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
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Questions & Answers about Diese Farbe passt gut zum Sofa.
What does passen mean here and what is its grammatical pattern?
Here passen is an intransitive verb meaning to suit or to go well with. It takes a nominative subject and a prepositional object introduced by zu (which uses the dative case).
Why is diese Farbe in the nominative case?
Because diese Farbe is the subject of the sentence (the thing doing the action), and subjects are in the nominative case. Farbe is feminine, so we use the nominative singular form of the demonstrative: diese.
Why is zum used instead of zu dem?
Zum is the contracted form of zu dem (preposition zu + dative article dem). In spoken and written German, contractions like zum, ins (für in das), etc., are very common.
Which case does zu require, and how do we know that Sofa is in that case?
The preposition zu always requires the dative case. Since Sofa is neuter (das Sofa), its dative singular form is dem Sofa, which contracts with zu to zum Sofa.
What part of speech is gut, and why is it placed before zum Sofa?
Gut is an adverb here (not an adjective). It modifies the verb passt (describing how well it suits). In German, adverbs of manner typically come immediately after the verb in the second position, before additional phrases like prepositional phrases.
Why is diese used instead of dieser or dieses?
Because Farbe is a feminine noun in the nominative case, the correct demonstrative determiner is diese (nominative feminine singular). Dieser would be nominative masculine, and dieses is nominative neuter.
Can I replace zum with mit and say Diese Farbe passt gut mit dem Sofa?
No. The verb passen when meaning to match/suit uses zu plus the dative case. Saying mit dem Sofa would sound unnatural. If you want to use mit, you could choose a different verb, for example: Diese Farbe harmoniert gut mit dem Sofa.
Could I say Die Farbe passt sehr gut zum Sofa to strengthen gut?
Yes. You can add sehr (very) to form Die Farbe passt sehr gut zum Sofa. Note that diese can be replaced with die if you're simply saying the colour instead of this colour.