Breakdown of Unser Team setzt den Plan Schritt für Schritt um.
unser
our
der Plan
the plan
den
the; (masculine, accusative)
das Team
the team
Questions & Answers about Unser Team setzt den Plan Schritt für Schritt um.
What does setzt ... um mean here, and why is um at the end of the sentence?
setzt ... um comes from the verb umsetzen, which in this context means to implement / to put into practice.
umsetzen is a separable-prefix verb:
- Infinitive: umsetzen
- Present (3rd person singular): er setzt etwas um
- The prefix um- separates and goes to the end of the clause in normal main-clause word order.
So:
- Unser Team setzt den Plan um.
= Our team implements the plan.
The verb must be in the second position in a main clause (the setzt part), and the separable prefix um is pushed to the end. That’s why you see setzt near the beginning and um at the very end.
Why is it den Plan and not der Plan or dem Plan?
Plan is a masculine noun: der Plan.
In the sentence Unser Team setzt den Plan Schritt für Schritt um, den Plan is the direct object of the verb umsetzen (what is being implemented?), so it must be in the accusative case:
- Nominative (subject): der Plan
- Accusative (direct object): den Plan
- Dative: dem Plan
Here, the plan is what is being implemented, so it is accusative:
- Wer oder was setzt um? – Unser Team. (subject, nominative)
- Wen oder was setzt es um? – den Plan. (direct object, accusative)
Therefore den Plan is correct.