Die Umfrage zeigt, wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen.

The survey shows how differently people behave in everyday life.

Breakdown of Die Umfrage zeigt, wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• zeigen: to show
• der Mensch: the person
• wie: how
• der Alltag: the everyday life
• sich benehmen: to behave
• die Umfrage: the survey
• unterschiedlich: differently

Questions & Answers about Die Umfrage zeigt, wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen.

In the clause wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen, why does the verb benehmen go to the end?

Because this is a subordinate clause (introduced by wie), German uses verb-final word order.

• In main clauses: the conjugated verb is in second position:
  Die Umfrage zeigt … – The survey shows …
• In subordinate clauses (introduced, for example, by dass, weil, wie, ob etc.), the finite verb moves to the end of the clause:
  … wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen.
  literally: … how differently themselves people in everyday life behave.

So benehmen is at the end because wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen is grammatically dependent on zeigt.

Why is there a comma after zeigt?

The comma separates a main clause from a subordinate clause:

• Main clause: Die Umfrage zeigt – The survey shows
• Subordinate clause: wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen – how differently people behave in everyday life

In German, subordinate clauses are normally separated by a comma from the main clause, even when English would not use a comma.

What exactly does sich benehmen mean, and why is it reflexive?

Sich benehmen means “to behave (oneself)” or “to conduct oneself”.

• benehmen is one of those verbs that is almost always used with a reflexive pronoun (sich), even though English doesn’t need one.
• Literally, it corresponds to English “to behave oneself”, which also uses a reflexive, but English often just says “behave”.

Examples:

• Das Kind benimmt sich gut. – The child is behaving well.
• Er benimmt sich schlecht. – He behaves badly.

The sich doesn’t change the basic meaning here; it’s just required by this verb in normal usage.

Why does sich come before Menschen in wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen?

In German subordinate clauses, the order of elements in the middle of the sentence (the “Mittelfeld”) follows certain preferences:

1. Object pronouns (like sich) usually come before the subject noun.
2. Short, unstressed pronouns tend to appear early in the clause.

So we get:

• sich (reflexive pronoun, object)
• Menschen (subject)
• im Alltag (adverbial phrase)
• benehmen (verb at the end)

That’s why we say sich Menschen benehmen, not Menschen sich benehmen in this particular structure.

Menschen benehmen sich … would be fine in a main clause, where the verb comes second:

• Menschen benehmen sich unterschiedlich. – People behave differently.

What does im Alltag literally mean, and why im and not in dem?

Im Alltag literally means “in (the) everyday life”, and idiomatically “in everyday life” or “in everyday situations”.

• Alltag = everyday life / daily routine
• in + dem Alltag (in the dative case) contracts to im Alltag.

This contraction is very common in German:

• in dem → im
• an dem → am
• zu dem → zum, etc.

So im Alltag is just the normal contracted form of in dem Alltag and is a standard expression.

Why is Menschen used without an article here? What case is it?

Menschen here is nominative plural and acts as the subject of the subordinate clause.

• Menschen benehmen sich … – People behave …

German often omits an article before plural nouns when we are talking about people or things in a general, non-specific sense:

• Menschen sind verschieden. – People are different.
• Kinder lernen schnell. – Children learn quickly.

If we added an article (die Menschen), it would sound more like “the people” in a more specific sense, not people in general.

Why Menschen and not Leute?

Both can translate as “people”, but there is a nuance:

• Menschen is more neutral/formal and slightly more abstract. It fits well in written language, reports, surveys, and more serious contexts.
• Leute is more colloquial and used a lot in speech.

In a sentence about a survey, Menschen is stylistically more appropriate:

• Die Umfrage zeigt, wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen.
  sounds like something from a report or article.

If you said Leute, it would sound more casual and slightly less formal.

What is the role of wie in this sentence? Is it “how” or “that”?

Here wie means “how”, not “that”.

The structure is:

• Die Umfrage zeigt, wie unterschiedlich …
  → The survey shows how differently …

It introduces a subordinate clause that describes the manner / extent of the behaviour.

You could also express a similar idea using dass:

• Die Umfrage zeigt, dass sich Menschen im Alltag unterschiedlich benehmen.
  The survey shows that people behave differently in everyday life.

Difference in nuance:

• wie unterschiedlich … focuses on how (in what way / to what extent) people behave differently.
• dass … just states the fact that they behave differently, without emphasizing the manner as much.

Could we also say Die Umfrage zeigt, dass sich Menschen im Alltag unterschiedlich benehmen? Is that correct?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and natural:

• Die Umfrage zeigt, dass sich Menschen im Alltag unterschiedlich benehmen.
  The survey shows that people behave differently in everyday life.

Nuance:

• … wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen … benehmen.
  → emphasizes how different their behaviour is, maybe suggesting a range of behaviours, degrees, or surprising variety.
• … dass sich Menschen … unterschiedlich benehmen.
  → emphasizes the fact that their behaviour is different, more like a simple statement.

Both are possible; the original version highlights the degree / variety of difference a bit more.

What is the difference between sich benehmen and sich verhalten? Could we use verhalten here?

Both sich benehmen and sich verhalten can mean “to behave”, but there are slight differences:

• sich benehmen

  • Often used for social behaviour, manners, politeness.
  • Can imply good or bad manners.
  • Example: Benimm dich! – Behave yourself!

• sich verhalten

  • A bit more neutral and formal.
  • Can mean to behave, but also to react / to act in a certain situation.
  • Example: Er verhält sich ruhig. – He is behaving calmly.

In this sentence, sich benehmen is perfectly natural because it’s about how people act in everyday life, often including manners.

You could say:

• Die Umfrage zeigt, wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag verhalten.

This would be understood and also sounds natural; it just puts a slightly more neutral or situational emphasis on behaviour rather than on manners.

Why is it wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen and not wie Menschen im Alltag unterschiedlich sind?

Both forms are possible but they focus on different things:

1. wie unterschiedlich sich Menschen im Alltag benehmen

   • Focus: behaviour in everyday life.
   • Literally: how differently people behave in everyday life.

2. wie Menschen im Alltag unterschiedlich sind

   • Focus: how people themselves are different (their characteristics, personalities, lifestyles) in everyday life.
   • It sounds a bit less natural in this context and might be interpreted more as “how people differ from each other” rather than specifically how they behave.

The original sentence wants to talk specifically about behaviour, so sich benehmen fits best.

What gender is Umfrage, and is die Umfrage the only correct article?

Umfrage is a feminine noun in German:

• die Umfrage – the survey / the poll
• Singular: die Umfrage
• Plural: die Umfragen

So in the sentence:

• Die Umfrage zeigt, … – The survey shows, …

the article die is required by the feminine gender of Umfrage in the nominative singular.