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- "Aus einem Ei"
139 Comments
there is movement [...] which should require accusative.
Movement, in and of itself, doesn't require any particular case.
There are some prepositions that can take either the dative or the accusative case -- and with those prepositions, the accusative case is used when the preposition indicates the destination of movement.
But there are prepositions that always imply movement, and so there's no need for any particular case to distinguish the movement meaning from a location meaning.
These include von "from, away from", aus "from out of", and zu "to", which all happen to take the dative case, as well as durch "through", which happens to take the accusative case.
971
'aus' to state that it comes out of something. It must have been inside. 'Von' could be explained as coming from a point. ∙→
971
True, but better take it as an image and not literally. If you come from a country you have been inside and you have to get out of it Ͼ→ (aus). “Ich komme aus England,” would mean for example that you live / or make vacation inside of the country and now you get out of it, even though the translation says “from”. On the other hand |→ “Ich komme von England,” would probably see the place as on a map. As I have been writing you can see “aus” like this Ͼ→ (out of) and “von” like this |→ (from a point).
1360
MillieMoo22
Some prepositions always signal the case of the following noun.
Aus introduces the dative case. As does außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach and some others.
Für, bis, ohne, durch and others introduce the accusative case.
So....you know that the article will be dative because aus tells you it has to be. Wherever this phrase was lifted from, it would be written in the dative. The presence of aus tells you all you need to know about that sentence to determine what case it should be in. If it wasn't grammatically correct to place the egg in the dative case in that sentence, then aus would not be the preposition introducing it.
I assume that the point of this Duo example is for you to come away with the idea that ...aus = dative. Aus = dem, der, dem, den/ einem, einer, einem, einen...masculine, feminine, neuter, plural form.
If you learn the prepositions that always take a particular case then you don't have to trouble yourself over what case a given phrase is. Those prepositions, if they are available, tell you which case much faster than you can figure it out for yourself.
Undoubtedly, there are some examples that are exceptions but you can take it as a general rule, while keeping your mind open.
1360
From an egg is a phrase. It does not have a subject verb object order because it is not a sentence.
It's asking from where ___ is coming from. In this case, a bird or something of similar form since he's saying "from/out of an egg". Technically, I suppose the answer could also be a platypus. But, like derwaliser said...
"Where do chickens come from?" (woher kommen Hähnchen) "They come from eggs" (aus einem Ei, or, Sie kommen aus einem Ei)
As I understand it the translation of "aus" as "over" is not referring to the positional meaning of "over". It is used as a colloquial way of saying that something is finished e.g. "es ist aus" meaning "it is over" so it does not work here at all. http://context.reverso.net/traduction/allemand-anglais/es+ist+aus The hints are very dependent on context and do not necessarily apply in the current exercise.
There is Latin phrase that says - AB OVO, which means : from the very beginning, from origin, from EGG. So it might be that.
Meaning - from start (from an EGG) to the finish. There are couple of explanations for this, for example : sometimes it could refer to the course of Roman meal (from the eggs to the apples); or for example mythical egg from which Helen of Troy was born.
Metaphorically, it could mean from the start to the finish of anything in general!
430
A bit of googling shows that in German "ab ovo" would be "vom Ei", not "aus einem Ei". I made this assumption too, but we both were wrong.
204
It would be nice if Duo popped up and said relevant things, like “see, aus in a German sentence indicates the Dative case!” instead of “wow, you got 5 in a row!”
I think so, in the sense of "coming out of a house", i.e. specifically through a doorway for example. To come "from" a house, i.e. from a house to a shop, would use von.
And to answer your confusion about einer/einem, it is einem because aus is a 'dative preposition' (what follows it is always in dative case), and Haus is a neuter object (and the declension pattern for neuter objects in dative case is -em. There's no way for a singular neuter object to get a -er declension in any case. As an extra complication, some nouns can also change their endings in dative case - so it could also be einem Hause (but this seems to be optional this time).
You can also be more specific about whether it is "going out from" or "coming out from" by using hinaus or heraus respectively. When talking about an egg, though, I don't think it's usual to consider the perspective of remaining inside the egg so you'd just say aus without any ambiguity.
Duolingo has lesson tips at the start of the lessons on accusative case and dative case if you use the web version (even on a phone - look for the light bulb icon). Also, practising those lessons and reading the comments you will find many tips and useful links.
Those may be good questions for the dative standing on its own.
Ich kaufe dir ein Buch. For whom do I buy the book? For you.
Ich gebe dir ein Buch. To whom do I give the book? To you.
But here the dative stands after a preposition and it's the preposition that determines the case. aus takes the dative case in German, not the genitive.
507
I guess there's an implied "It comes" at the beginning ("Das Hähnchen kommt aus einem Ei") So Dative is also used for coming from something as well as going to something?
It depends on the preposition.
aus "from out of" requires the dative case, as does zu "to".
Note, however, that those prepositions that can take either dative or accusative generally require the accusative when motion towards is intended, e.g. in + dative is "in" while in + accusative is "into"; similarly with auf for "on" (location) versus "onto" (destination of movement).
664
If you wanted to say that you made a cake using only one egg, could you use this sentence? As in: Diese Küche ist aus einem Ei?
If you wanted to say that you made a cake using only one egg, could you use this sentence?
No, because you don't make cake "from" eggs -- they're not the main ingredient the way they are in (say) an omelette. You make a cake "using" or "with" eggs.
As in: Diese Küche ist aus einem Ei?
diese Küche is "this kitchen" :) "this cake" would be dieser Kuchen.
I'd probably say Dieser Kuchen enthält nur ein Ei "This cake contains only one egg."
But you might say Dieses Omelett ist aus einem Ei. "This omelette is (made) from one egg." (With einem stressed in speech since it means "one" rather than "a(n)".)
664
Oh, I always forget which is which :)
First, I was thinking about using scrambled eggs in exemple, but it sounded stupid xD Ok, but in writing it looks the same, right?
Anyway, thank you :)
The preposition "aus" is always followed by the dative case. "Ei" is neuter, and the dative neuter form of "ein" is "einem".
Cases overview: http://german.about.com/library/blcase_sum.htm
Dative prepositions: http://german.about.com/library/blcase_dat2.htm
They mean the same thing ("a" or "an"), but the ending has to change (called inflection) because German nouns have gender which works as a kind of 'signal' that causes inflection according to grammar rules.
There is a good introduction if you view this lesson in a web browser.
11
So in German we consider the ablative case as the dative case, right?
I mean, we use "aus" here but also put the rest of the sentence in dative.
971
Dative is not ablativ: Dativ is used with certain prepositions. “Aus” is one of them. It is also used with some phrasal verbs and as an indirect object. Indirect objects are usually people. For example: “The teacher gives the book to the boy. / Der Lehrer gibt dem Jungen das Buch”. "The boy / dem Jungen" would be the indirect object. There are many tutorials in the internet where you can find out which prepositions use the accusative or dativ case. I wish you good luck.
So, is it because "it" (whatever it is) is 'from an egg' the egg is dative because the "it" would be accusitive? Ot can this statement be another case in a different situation? Like the sentance "the bird came from an egg" would it be said "der Vogel kommt aus einem Ei"? Or would it be "der Vogel kommt aus ein ei?"
971
Exactly, and to give an other example: Aus einer Tüte (die Tüte) / Aus den Tüten / Aus einem Baumstamm
446
Why not "made from an egg" or "made of an egg"? Wouldn't "aus Stahl" mean "made of steel"?
Duo explains how dative case works here: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Dative-Case/tips-and-notes
Duo explains how dative case works here: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Dative-Case/tips-and-notes
1360
Bubbawski
Your sentence is unclear as to whether an egg came out of a chicken or a chicken came out of an egg. That is because an essential element of your sentence is missing.