Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

Next to us a fellow (male) student briefly discusses the material with the lecturer.

Breakdown of Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

• mit: with
• uns: us
• neben: next to
• kurz: briefly
• diskutieren: to discuss
• die Dozentin: the lecturer (female)
• der Kommilitone: the fellow student
• der Stoff: the material

Questions & Answers about Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

Why does the verb diskutiert come before ein Kommilitone? I thought the normal order was “Ein Kommilitone diskutiert …”

German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the finite verb must be in second position, but the subject does not have to be first.

In your sentence:

• Neben uns = element 1 (a prepositional phrase put in first position)
• diskutiert = element 2 (the finite verb – must be here)
• ein Kommilitone = element 3 (the subject)
• kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin = the rest of the sentence

So both of these are correct and mean the same thing:

• Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.
• Ein Kommilitone diskutiert neben uns kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

The first just emphasizes the location “next to us” by putting it first.

What case is uns in after neben, and why?

Uns here is in the dative plural.

• neben is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition).
• With location / no movement, it takes dative.
• With movement towards something, it takes accusative.

In this sentence, “next to us” describes a static location, not movement:

• Neben uns = next to us (in a place) → dative → uns

Compare:

• Er sitzt neben uns. – He is sitting next to us. (dative)
• Er setzt sich neben uns. – He sits down next to us. (movement → accusative: uns stays the same form in plural, but the rule is different.)

What exactly does Kommilitone mean, and how is it different from Student?

Kommilitone means “fellow student (at the same university / on the same course)”.

• Student = student (usually at a university), neutral, just says the person studies somewhere.
• Kommilitone = a fellow student, someone who studies with you at the same university, often in the same program or at least the same faculty.

So:

• ein Student – some student (anywhere)
• ein Kommilitone – a fellow student of yours

It’s often used in university contexts to emphasize belonging to the same group of students.

How would the sentence change if the student were female or if there were several fellow students?

Masculine singular (original):

• Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

Feminine singular:

• Neben uns diskutiert eine Kommilitonin kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

Changes:

• ein → eine (feminine)
• Kommilitone → Kommilitonin (feminine form)

Plural (mixed or all-male group):

• Neben uns diskutieren Kommilitonen kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

Changes:

• diskutiert → diskutieren (verb agrees with plural subject)
• ein Kommilitone → Kommilitonen (no article, plural noun)

Plural (all female):

• Neben uns diskutieren Kommilitoninnen kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

Why is kurz after diskutiert? Could I put it somewhere else?

Here kurz is an adverb meaning “briefly”, not the adjective “short”.

The given order is:

• diskutiert (verb)
• ein Kommilitone (subject)
• kurz (adverb: how?)
• den Stoff (direct object)
• mit der Dozentin (prepositional phrase)

With a simple present tense verb, an adverb like kurz normally comes after the verb, often after the subject:

• Ein Kommilitone diskutiert kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.
• Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

You cannot put it between subject and verb in simple present like in English:

• ❌ Ein Kommilitone kurz diskutiert den Stoff … (wrong)

Other natural positions:

• Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone den Stoff kurz mit der Dozentin.
  (Slightly different rhythm; still fine.)

But the original placement (… diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff …) is very natural.

Why is it den Stoff and not dem Stoff or something else? What case is this?

Den Stoff is in the accusative case as the direct object of diskutiert.

• Stoff here means “(course) material / subject matter”, not “fabric”.
• Stoff is masculine: der Stoff in the nominative.

Masculine singular article forms:

• Nominative: der Stoff
• Accusative: den Stoff
• Dative: dem Stoff
• Genitive: des Stoffs / des Stoffes

Since we are discussing something (what? → direct object), we use accusative:

• ein Kommilitone diskutiert was? → den Stoff → accusative → den.

Why is it mit der Dozentin and not mit die Dozentin?

Because mit always takes the dative case.

• mit = “with” → always dative in German.
• Dozentin is feminine (a female lecturer).

Feminine singular article in dative:

• Nominative: die Dozentin
• Accusative: die Dozentin
• Dative: der Dozentin
• Genitive: der Dozentin

So after mit you must say:

• mit der Dozentin (with the female lecturer)

Using mit die Dozentin would be ungrammatical.

What is the difference between Dozentin and Professorin or Lehrerin?

All three refer to people who teach, but in different contexts:

• Dozentin

  • female lecturer or instructor at a university or college
  • often someone who teaches but may or may not be a full professor
  • sometimes also used for external or part-time university teachers

• Professorin

  • female professor (has a professorial chair, higher academic rank)
  • always university level, more status and responsibilities than a Dozentin

• Lehrerin

  • female teacher, usually at school (primary, secondary), not university

So in this sentence, Dozentin suggests a university-level teacher rather than a school teacher.

Can diskutieren take a direct object like den Stoff, or do you normally need über (diskutieren über etwas)?

Both patterns exist with diskutieren:

1. diskutieren + Akkusativobjekt

   • Wir diskutieren den Stoff. – We discuss the material.
   • Here, den Stoff is a direct object.

2. diskutieren über + Akkusativ

   • Wir diskutieren über den Stoff. – We talk / have a discussion about the material.

Differences:

• diskutieren + Akkusativ is often a bit more formal or concise, common in academic or written language.
• diskutieren über … is very common and maybe slightly more colloquial and explicit.

In this sentence, diskutiert … den Stoff mit der Dozentin is perfectly idiomatic and sounds natural, especially in a university context.

Could I say Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz mit der Dozentin den Stoff instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, that sentence is grammar­wise correct, but it is less natural than the original.

Two versions:

1. Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

   • Very natural: verb → subject → adverb → object → prepositional phrase

2. Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz mit der Dozentin den Stoff.

   • Still grammatical, but the order “mit der Dozentin den Stoff” sounds a bit marked; the listener briefly expects the object right after kurz.

Neutral, common order in German tends to place the direct object before a “mit + Person” phrase in such a context:

• … diskutiert den Stoff mit der Dozentin.

So version 1 is stylistically better.

Why is this German present tense translated as “is discussing” in English, even though there’s no -ing form in German?

German does not have a separate progressive tense like English “is doing”.
The Präsens (simple present) in German can express:

• simple present:
  
  • Er diskutiert oft mit der Dozentin. – He often discusses with the lecturer.
• present progressive / right now:
  
  • Neben uns diskutiert ein Kommilitone kurz den Stoff mit der Dozentin.
    → Next to us, a fellow student is briefly discussing the material with the lecturer.

English must choose between “discusses” and “is discussing”, but German uses the same form diskutiert for both.
Context (here: describing a scene that is obviously happening right now) tells you it’s a current ongoing action, so “is discussing” is the best translation.