Breakdown of Die Notärztin untersucht die Verletzung am Bein und legt einen Gips an.
Questions & Answers about Die Notärztin untersucht die Verletzung am Bein und legt einen Gips an.
Ärztin = (female) doctor.
Notärztin = (female) emergency doctor.
The prefix Not- in German often means “emergency” or “in case of need” (e.g. Notruf = emergency call).
So:
- Arzt / Ärztin – doctor (general word for physician)
- Notarzt / Notärztin – emergency doctor, typically working in ambulances or emergency services
Two different things are happening here: gender and case.
Gender (who/what she is)
- Notärztin is grammatically feminine.
- Feminine nouns in the nominative singular take the article die.
- So as a subject: die Notärztin = the (female) emergency doctor.
Case (what role in the sentence)
- In this sentence, Die Notärztin is the subject → nominative case → die.
- Der Notärztin also exists, but that is dative:
- e.g. Ich helfe der Notärztin. – I help the (female) emergency doctor.
Here we need the subject, so we use die Notärztin, not der Notärztin.
Untersuchen is the infinitive (dictionary form): “to examine”.
In the sentence, the subject is die Notärztin = sie (she).
For sie (she) in the present tense, untersuchen is conjugated as:
- ich untersuche
- du untersuchst
- er / sie / es untersucht
- wir untersuchen
- ihr untersucht
- sie untersuchen
So we must say: Die Notärztin untersucht … – “The emergency doctor examines …”
Functionally, die Verletzung is the direct object of untersucht:
- Die Notärztin (subject, nominative)
- untersucht (verb)
- die Verletzung (direct object, accusative)
For feminine nouns like die Verletzung, the article is die in both nominative and accusative singular:
- Nominative: die Verletzung (as subject)
- Accusative: die Verletzung (as direct object)
So the form doesn’t change. You recognize the accusative here by the role in the sentence:
- Who does something? → Die Notärztin (subject, nominative)
- What does she examine? → die Verletzung (object, accusative)
The choice of preposition depends on the spatial idea:
an (→ am Bein) often means “on / at” a surface or edge, without the idea of being inside:
- am Bein = on the leg (on the outside of the leg)
in (→ im Bein) means inside:
- im Bein would suggest inside the leg (e.g., in the bone or tissue) – unusual in this context.
auf (→ auf dem Bein) is “on top of” a surface, like “on the table”:
- auf dem Bein is possible, but sounds more like resting on top of the leg (e.g., “Die Katze sitzt auf dem Bein.”).
For an injury located on the leg, German normally uses an → am Bein.
Am is a contraction (short form) of an dem:
- Preposition: an
- Dative article (neuter, singular): dem (because das Bein is neuter)
- an dem Bein → am Bein
So, grammatically:
- an
- dem Bein (dative) → am Bein
It’s one verb: anlegen, a separable verb.
- Infinitive: anlegen
- 3rd person singular present: legt an
In a normal main clause, separable verbs split:
- Die Notärztin legt einen Gips an.
- legt = conjugated verb in 2nd position
- an = separable prefix, moved to the end of the clause.
The expression einen Gips anlegen is idiomatic and means “to put on a plaster cast”.
Other forms:
- Infinitive: einen Gips anlegen
- Perfect: Sie hat einen Gips angelegt.
- Subordinate clause (present): …, weil sie einen Gips anlegt. (no splitting there; verb goes to the end as one word)
Three points: gender, case, and definiteness.
Gender
- Gips (plaster) is masculine: der Gips.
Case
- In legt einen Gips an, einen Gips is the direct object → accusative case.
- Masculine indefinite article in the singular:
- Nominative: ein Gips (as subject)
- Accusative: einen Gips (as direct object)
- Dative: einem Gips
- So here we need the accusative form: einen Gips.
Definiteness
- einen Gips = a plaster cast (introducing it, not a specific one already known).
- den Gips would be the plaster cast (already known from context).
Hence: legt einen Gips an = “puts a plaster cast on”.
Grammatically, yes, you can switch the order:
- Die Notärztin untersucht die Verletzung am Bein und legt einen Gips an.
- Die Notärztin legt einen Gips an und untersucht die Verletzung am Bein.
Both are correct, but the natural sequence of actions is:
- First examine the injury,
- Then apply a cast.
So the original order better reflects real‑world order and sounds more natural.
The reversed order is possible, but it may feel less logical, or it may suggest a different focus or emphasis.
Spoken German usually uses the Perfekt (with haben):
- Die Notärztin hat die Verletzung am Bein untersucht und einen Gips angelegt.
Notes:
- hat untersucht = has examined
- hat angelegt = has applied / put on
- The separable verb anlegen gets its prefix an glued back in front of the stem in the past participle: angelegt.
You could also use the simple past (Präteritum):
- Die Notärztin untersuchte die Verletzung am Bein und legte einen Gips an.
This is correct, but sounds more like written style or formal narration.
In a subordinate clause introduced by weil, the finite verb goes to the end, and a separable verb is no longer split:
Main clause (verb in 2nd position, separable):
- Sie legt einen Gips an.
Subordinate clause with weil (verb at the end, not split):
- …, weil sie einen Gips anlegt.
If you put the whole original sentence into a subordinate clause:
- …, weil die Notärztin die Verletzung am Bein untersucht und einen Gips anlegt.
You need to look at gender and case.
die Verletzung – feminine singular
- Accusative pronoun: sie
- Example:
- Die Notärztin untersucht sie. – The doctor examines it (the injury).
das Bein – neuter singular
- As object pronoun (accusative): es
- Example (if you focus on the leg itself):
- Die Notärztin untersucht es. – The doctor examines it (the leg).
der Gips – masculine singular
- Accusative pronoun: ihn
- Example:
- Die Notärztin legt ihn an. – The doctor applies it (the cast).
So in a shorter version you might say:
- Die Notärztin untersucht sie und legt ihn an.
- sie = the injury (die Verletzung, fem.)
- ihn = the cast (der Gips, masc.)