Viele Konflikte lassen sich mit Ruhe und Humor klären.

Many conflicts can be resolved with calm and humor.

Breakdown of Viele Konflikte lassen sich mit Ruhe und Humor klären.

• und: and
• mit: with
• viel: many
• die Ruhe: the calm
• der Konflikt: the conflict
• der Humor: the humor
• sich klären lassen: can be resolved

Questions & Answers about Viele Konflikte lassen sich mit Ruhe und Humor klären.

What exactly does „lassen sich … klären“ mean here, and why not just say „können … geklärt werden“?

The structure „lassen sich + Infinitiv“ is a very common way in German to express an idea similar to English “can be + past participle”.

• „Viele Konflikte lassen sich klären.“
  ≈ “Many conflicts can be resolved / can be clarified.”

It’s grammatically an active sentence, but it has a “passive-like” meaning:

• Subject: Viele Konflikte (the conflicts)
• Verb: lassen (in the sense of “allow, let, be possible”)
• Reflexive pronoun: sich (referring back to “Konflikte”)
• Infinitive: klären (to clarify, resolve)

A close literal idea is “Many conflicts let themselves be resolved”, though that’s not idiomatic in English.

You could say:

• „Viele Konflikte können mit Ruhe und Humor geklärt werden.“

This is a normal passive with können. It is correct and very natural too.
The difference is only in style/nuance:

• „lassen sich … klären“ often sounds a bit more neutral and elegant in written German.
• „können … geklärt werden“ is slightly more explicitly passive and sometimes a bit heavier in style.

Both are perfectly fine in everyday language.

What is the role of „sich“ in this sentence, and what case is it in?

„sich“ is a reflexive pronoun here, referring back to „Konflikte“.

• Subject: Viele Konflikte → 3rd person plural
• Reflexive pronoun: sich → 3rd person reflexive form (used for both singular and plural)

With lassen, the reflexive pronoun here is in the accusative case and works like a direct object:

• jemanden etwas machen lassen = to let someone do something
• etwas lässt sich machen = something lets itself be done → can be done

So structurally:

• Viele Konflikte (subject, nom. pl.)
• lassen (finite verb)
• sich (reflexive object, acc.)
• klären (infinitive)

In English you normally don’t translate “sich” here. You just say:

• “Many conflicts can be resolved …”

The reflexive is part of a German pattern, not something that appears directly in the English translation.

Why is „klären“ at the end of the sentence, and how does verb order work in this structure?

German main clauses follow the “verb-second” rule:

1. The conjugated verb (finite verb) goes in second position.
2. Any other verbs (infinitives, participles) go to the end of the clause.

In this sentence:

• Viele Konflikte → first element
• lassen → finite verb, so it must be in second position
• sich mit Ruhe und Humor → middle field
• klären → infinitive at the end

So we get:

Viele Konflikte | lassen | sich mit Ruhe und Humor | klären.

If you add another element like an adverb, it still stays before the final infinitive:

• Viele Konflikte lassen sich mit Ruhe und Humor leicht klären.
  (… can be easily resolved …)

The final position for klären is required here because it’s the non‑finite verb form in a main clause with another (finite) verb.

Could I also say „Viele Konflikte kann man mit Ruhe und Humor klären“? Is there a difference?

Yes, that sentence is correct and very natural:

• „Viele Konflikte kann man mit Ruhe und Humor klären.“
  ≈ “You can resolve many conflicts with calmness and humor.”

Differences:

1. Subject

   • lassen-sich version:
     Subject = „Viele Konflikte“
     “Many conflicts can be resolved.”
   • man version:
     Subject = „man“ (= generic “one / people / you”)
     “One can resolve many conflicts…”

2. Focus

   • lassen sich puts the focus a bit more on the conflicts themselves and their solvability.
   • man … klären highlights a bit more what people can do.

3. Style

   • Both are common and natural.
   • „man“ is very common in spoken language for general statements.
   • „lassen sich“ feels slightly more neutral and often appears in written text.

In practice, they’re almost interchangeable in meaning here.

Why do we say „viele Konflikte“ and not something like „viel Konflikt“?

In German, „Konflikt“ is normally a countable noun:

• ein Konflikt – one conflict
• zwei Konflikte – two conflicts
• viele Konflikte – many conflicts

So if you want to talk about more than one, you use the plural and a plural determiner:

• viele Konflikte
  (many conflicts)

„viel Konflikt“ would sound wrong or at least very unnatural in this context.
The word „viel“ is generally used:

• with uncountable nouns:
  
  • viel Wasser (a lot of water)
  • viel Stress (a lot of stress)
• or as an adverb:
  
  • viel besser (much better)

Since „Konflikt“ is usually seen as countable here, you use „viele Konflikte“.

What case are „Ruhe“ and „Humor“ in after „mit“, and why is there no article?

The preposition „mit“ always takes the dative case.

• Ruhe: feminine, singular
  
  • Nom./Acc.: die Ruhe
  • Dat.: der Ruhe (same form in spelling, but functionally dative here)
• Humor: masculine, singular
  
  • Nom.: der Humor
  • Dat.: dem Humor

In this sentence:

• mit Ruhe → dative singular, but no article
• mit Humor → dative singular, but no article

Why no article?

Because „Ruhe“ and „Humor“ are used here as abstract qualities in general — “calmness” and “humor” as concepts, not specific, countable instances.

German often omits the article with abstract or mass nouns when talking about them in a general sense:

• mit Geduld (with patience)
• mit Liebe (with love)
• mit Kraft (with strength)
• in Freiheit (in freedom)

So „mit Ruhe und Humor“ = “with calmness and humor (in general)”.

Does „Ruhe“ mean “silence” here? How do I know it means “calmness”?

„Ruhe“ is a flexible word. It can mean:

1. Silence / quiet

   • Ruhe bitte! – Quiet please!
   • Ich brauche Ruhe zum Arbeiten. – I need quiet to work.

2. Rest

   • Der Patient braucht Ruhe. – The patient needs rest.

3. Calmness / composure

   • Bleib ruhig, bewahre Ruhe. – Stay calm, keep your composure.

In the sentence:

Viele Konflikte lassen sich mit Ruhe und Humor klären.

The context is resolving conflicts, and it is paired with „Humor“. That combination strongly suggests a mental attitude rather than physical silence:

• calmness + humor → a relaxed, balanced way of dealing with conflict.

So the best English rendering is “calmness” or “a calm attitude”, not literal “silence”.

Why „mit Ruhe und Humor“ and not „durch Ruhe und Humor“? Is there a difference?

Both prepositions are possible in principle, but they have slightly different nuances:

• mit (with)
  Emphasizes the means, tools, or attitude you use:

  • mit Geduld (with patience)
  • mit Hilfe (with the help of…)
  • mit Humor (with humor)

• durch (through, by)
  Emphasizes cause or the agent/means that brings about the result:

  • durch Geduld (by means of patience)
  • durch harte Arbeit (through hard work)
  • durch ein Missverständnis (because of a misunderstanding)

So:

• „mit Ruhe und Humor“
  Focus: the way / manner / attitude with which you handle conflicts.
  Very idiomatic here.

• „durch Ruhe und Humor“
  Focus: these are the causes or means that produce the result.
  Grammatically OK, but it sounds a bit more “technical” and is less idiomatic in this kind of advice sentence.

For a natural, proverbial-sounding German sentence, „mit Ruhe und Humor“ is the better choice.

Can the phrase „mit Ruhe und Humor“ move to the front of the sentence? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can move it to the front:

• Mit Ruhe und Humor lassen sich viele Konflikte klären.

This is perfectly correct. The meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes slightly.

• Original:
  Viele Konflikte lassen sich mit Ruhe und Humor klären.
  → Emphasis starts with “many conflicts”.

• Fronted prepositional phrase:
  Mit Ruhe und Humor lassen sich viele Konflikte klären.
  → Emphasis starts with “with calmness and humor” — highlighting the method.

German allows a lot of flexible word order as long as:

1. The finite verb remains in second position.
2. The other verbs (infinitives, participles) remain at the end.

So both orders are standard; you choose depending on what you want to highlight.

What is the gender and plural of „Konflikt“, and how does that show up in this sentence?

• Gender:
  „Konflikt“ is masculine:

  • der Konflikt

• Plural:

  • die Konflikte

In the sentence:

Viele Konflikte lassen sich … klären.

we have:

• Konflikte: plural form (nominative plural)
• viele: plural quantifier matching the plural noun

The verb lassen is also conjugated for 3rd person plural:

• sie lassen (they let)
• Viele Konflikte lassen … (Many conflicts let …)

So the masculine gender mainly matters for dictionary lookup and singular forms; here we just see the plural and the corresponding plural verb ending.

Is the structure „lassen sich + Infinitiv“ common in German, or is it special to “Konflikte klären”?

It’s very common and used with many different verbs. A few examples:

• Das Problem lässt sich lösen.
  = The problem can be solved.

• Die Tür lässt sich nicht öffnen.
  = The door can’t be opened.

• Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.
  = This question can easily be answered.

• Die Situation lässt sich verbessern.
  = The situation can be improved.

The pattern is:

Subjekt + lässt / lassen sich + (Adverbien usw.) + Infinitiv

Semantically, it often means:

• “can be + past participle” in English
• or “is possible to + verb”

So „Viele Konflikte lassen sich klären“ is just one instance of a very general, productive structure.

Is there a difference between „Konflikte klären“ and „Konflikte lösen“?

Yes, there’s a nuance:

• „Konflikte klären“
  literally: to clarify conflicts
  Focuses on clearing up misunderstandings, making the situation transparent, discussing problems, reaching mutual understanding.

• „Konflikte lösen“
  literally: to solve conflicts
  Focuses more on actually resolving the conflict — ending it, coming to a solution or agreement.

In many everyday contexts they can overlap:

• Konflikte klären und lösen – clarify and resolve conflicts.

In this sentence, „klären“ fits nicely with the idea of approaching conflicts calmly and with humor: you talk things through, clarify, reduce tension, and in doing so usually also help to resolve them.