Breakdown of Der Freispruch steht in der Akte.
in
in
stehen
to be listed
die Akte
the official case file
der Freispruch
the acquittal
Questions & Answers about Der Freispruch steht in der Akte.
Why is it der Freispruch? What does the gender matter here?
Freispruch is a masculine noun, so its dictionary form is der Freispruch. In this sentence, it is the subject, so it stays in the nominative form: der Freispruch.
Gender matters in German because it affects:
- the article: der
- adjective endings
- pronouns referring back to the noun
So if you later referred to Freispruch, you might use er.
What exactly does Freispruch mean?
Freispruch is a legal term meaning an acquittal or a not guilty verdict. It is more formal and specific than a general word like decision or judgment. It belongs to legal language, so this sentence sounds like something from a court or official document.
Why does the sentence use steht? The acquittal is not literally standing.
In German, stehen is often used idiomatically to mean that something is written somewhere.
So Der Freispruch steht in der Akte means that the acquittal is recorded or written in the file. This is very natural German.
Similar examples:
- Das steht im Vertrag. = That is written in the contract.
- Sein Name steht auf der Liste. = His name is on the list.
So here, steht does not describe physical position. It describes written information.