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Breakdown of Diese Fähigkeit macht uns stark.
machen
to make
diese
this
uns
us
stark
strong
die Fähigkeit
the ability
Questions & Answers about Diese Fähigkeit macht uns stark.
What case is uns, and why?
It’s accusative. The pattern here is machen + direct object (Akk.) + adjective: someone makes someone else something. Even though uns looks the same in dative and accusative, you can test with singular: Er macht mich stark (Akk.) is correct, while Er macht mir stark is wrong.
Why doesn’t stark have an ending (like starke)?
Because it’s a predicate adjective (an object complement), not an attributive adjective before a noun. Predicate adjectives in German are uninflected: Sie ist stark. / Er findet uns stark. / Diese Fähigkeit macht uns stark.
What gender and case is Fähigkeit, and why Diese?
Fähigkeit is feminine (die Fähigkeit). Here it’s the subject, so it’s nominative singular. The correct demonstrative determiner is diese (feminine nominative singular): Diese Fähigkeit.
Can I say Diese Fähigkeit macht stark uns?
No. Personal pronouns in the middle field typically come early. The natural order is macht uns stark. You can front elements for emphasis while keeping the verb second:
- Uns macht diese Fähigkeit stark. (emphasizes us)
- Stark macht uns diese Fähigkeit. (emphasizes the result)
Could I use Dies instead of Diese Fähigkeit?
Yes. Dies macht uns stark. Here dies is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “this (thing).” Diese Fähigkeit explicitly names the ability; Dies is more general or deictic.
What’s the difference between Fähigkeit and Fertigkeit?
- Fähigkeit = ability, capacity, often inherent or general potential.
- Fertigkeit = skill, a learned or practiced ability.
Both can translate to “ability/skill,” but Fertigkeit highlights trained proficiency.
How do I say “makes us stronger” instead of “strong”?
Use the comparative: Diese Fähigkeit macht uns stärker.
Degrees: stark – stärker – am stärksten.
Can I use a noun instead of an adjective, like “gives us strength” or “makes us into X”?
Yes:
- Diese Fähigkeit gibt uns Stärke. (uns = dative, Stärke = accusative)
- Diese Fähigkeit macht uns zu starken Menschen. (machen + zu + dative + noun)
How is macht conjugated here?
It’s 3rd person singular present because Diese Fähigkeit is singular:
ich mache, du machst, er/sie/es macht, wir machen, ihr macht, sie machen.
Where does nicht go to negate the sentence?
Diese Fähigkeit macht uns nicht stark.
nicht precedes the adjective phrase here. You can intensify: gar nicht, überhaupt nicht.
How would I put it in the past or future?
- Simple past: Diese Fähigkeit machte uns stark.
- Present perfect: Diese Fähigkeit hat uns stark gemacht.
- Future: Diese Fähigkeit wird uns stark machen.
What if Fähigkeit were plural?
Diese Fähigkeiten machen uns stark.
The verb agrees in plural (machen). Diese also works for nominative plural.
Any pronunciation tips for Fähigkeit and stark?
- Fähigkeit: stress the first syllable; ä is a long “eh” sound; the -ig- here sounds like the soft ich sound; roughly “FÄH-ich-kite.”
- stark: initial st is pronounced like “sht” in Standard German; roughly “SHTARK.”
Why is Fähigkeit capitalized?
All nouns are capitalized in German. Diese is capitalized only because it starts the sentence.
Can stark mean “strongly” here?
No. Here stark describes uns (adjective complement). As an adverb, stark works with other verbs, e.g., Es regnet stark (“It’s raining heavily”), but not with machen in this pattern.
Is there a related idiom I should know?
Yes: sich stark machen für + Akk. = to champion/advocate for something. Example: Wir machen uns stark für den Umweltschutz. This is different from jemanden stark machen (“to make someone strong”).
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German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.
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