Word
Der Arzt empfiehlt diese Salbe zweimal täglich.
Meaning
The doctor recommends this ointment twice a day.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Der Arzt empfiehlt diese Salbe zweimal täglich.
diese
this
der Arzt
the doctor
täglich
daily
empfehlen
to recommend
Questions & Answers about Der Arzt empfiehlt diese Salbe zweimal täglich.
Which case is used in the phrase diese Salbe, and why?
It’s accusative. Empfehlen is a transitive verb that takes:
- a direct object (the thing recommended) in the accusative: diese Salbe
- optionally an indirect object (the person) in the dative: dem Patienten
Example: Der Arzt empfiehlt dem Patienten diese Salbe.
Why is it diese and not dieser/diesen/dieses?
Because Salbe is feminine. For the demonstrative stem dies-:
- masculine: nominative dieser, accusative diesen
- feminine: nominative diese, accusative diese
- neuter: nominative/accusative dieses
- plural: nominative/accusative diese
Here we need feminine accusative singular → diese. Also, note: die Salbe is the dictionary form; many nouns ending in -e are feminine (though not all).
What’s going on with the verb form empfiehlt?