Word
Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.
Meaning
The lecturer explains the plan of the exam to the students.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.
der Plan
the plan
die Prüfung
the exam
erklären
to explain
den
the; (masculine, accusative)
Questions & Answers about Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.
Why is it Der Dozent and not Den Dozenten or Dem Dozenten?
Der Dozent is the subject of the sentence, so it must be in the nominative case.
The noun Dozent (lecturer) is a masculine noun that declines like this in the singular:
- Nominative: der Dozent (subject)
- Accusative: den Dozenten
- Dative: dem Dozenten
- Genitive: des Dozenten
Because the lecturer is the one doing the explaining, we need the nominative form der Dozent.
Why is it den Studierenden and not die Studierenden?
Because den Studierenden is in the dative plural, not the nominative or accusative plural.
The verb erklären usually follows the pattern:
jemandem etwas erklären = to explain something to someone
- jemandem → indirect object → dative
- etwas → direct object → accusative
So den Studierenden is the indirect object (to the students), and therefore must be dative plural.
- Nominative plural: die Studierenden (the students as subject)
- Dative plural: den Studierenden (to the students)
How do I know which noun is “the thing being explained” and which is “the person being explained to”?