Answers
Sep 29, 2014 - 12:46 PM
There doesn't appear to be any Place or Manner in this sentence, just a Time element. "Die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin" is the direct object and "Berlin" just modifies "Rueckfahrt" so it wouldn't be considered a Place in the TPM structure. I'm not sure if that helps.
Nov 27, 2014 - 07:39 AM
Hallo James
Ok, first of all, well done for getting this sentence correct. Word order is one of the hardest aspects of German and we try to slowly introduce rules that can be applied in most scenarios. But, of course, as with all languages there are exceptions and an element of fluency in the language. Often there is more than just the one way of saying the same thing. Think of the English sentence:
We met at the train station at 8pm yesterday
We could just as well say:
We met at the train station yesterday at 8pm
Or:
We met at 8pm yesterday at the train station
Or even:
We met yesterday at 8pm at the train station
To some degree the same can apply in German, too. So we try to ease you into the different ways of saying things as gently as possible.
In the sentence "I will book the second return from Berlin for February 29" we have indeed two options.
But before we look at them, just a very quick note: despite the length of the sentence, there are actually only 4 elements in it:
Subject (who?): Ich
Verb (Does what?): reserviere
Direct Object (What?): die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin (well done for spotting that timothyryan!)
Time Complement (For when?): fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar
So in this sentence you can:
1) Follow the English structure as we've asked you to do so far. So you put the direct object right after the verb followed by the time complement "fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar". Note that "aus Berlin" is not actually a place complement here but forms part of the direct object "die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin". So it's:
Ich reserviere die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar
Now, in this version the slightly more important information is what you are booking.
But if you wanted to emphasise the date of the return then it would also be correct to say (which is why we give this as a second option):
2) Ich reserviere fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin
Don’t worry! We will get into word order in muuuuuuuch more detail as you progress through the program. For now, until we explain more, stick to the English structure and the TMP rule where you have a time, place and manner complement and you'll be fine. I hope this helps!
Ok, first of all, well done for getting this sentence correct. Word order is one of the hardest aspects of German and we try to slowly introduce rules that can be applied in most scenarios. But, of course, as with all languages there are exceptions and an element of fluency in the language. Often there is more than just the one way of saying the same thing. Think of the English sentence:
We met at the train station at 8pm yesterday
We could just as well say:
We met at the train station yesterday at 8pm
Or:
We met at 8pm yesterday at the train station
Or even:
We met yesterday at 8pm at the train station
To some degree the same can apply in German, too. So we try to ease you into the different ways of saying things as gently as possible.
In the sentence "I will book the second return from Berlin for February 29" we have indeed two options.
But before we look at them, just a very quick note: despite the length of the sentence, there are actually only 4 elements in it:
Subject (who?): Ich
Verb (Does what?): reserviere
Direct Object (What?): die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin (well done for spotting that timothyryan!)
Time Complement (For when?): fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar
So in this sentence you can:
1) Follow the English structure as we've asked you to do so far. So you put the direct object right after the verb followed by the time complement "fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar". Note that "aus Berlin" is not actually a place complement here but forms part of the direct object "die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin". So it's:
Ich reserviere die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar
Now, in this version the slightly more important information is what you are booking.
But if you wanted to emphasise the date of the return then it would also be correct to say (which is why we give this as a second option):
2) Ich reserviere fuer den neunundzwanzigsten Februar die zweite Rueckfahrt aus Berlin
Don’t worry! We will get into word order in muuuuuuuch more detail as you progress through the program. For now, until we explain more, stick to the English structure and the TMP rule where you have a time, place and manner complement and you'll be fine. I hope this helps!