- Forum >
- Topic: German >
- "Wir befinden uns vor einem G…
15 Comments
CarolZaczk
1475
What is the advantage to using reflexive here? Does "Wir sind vor einem Gebäude“ sound wrong?
Sounds very unnatural. In general, "before" is not commonly used in English to mean "in front of" (unless you're trying to be literary or dramatic, e.g. "Before us stood the ruins of an unknown building.").
EDIT: Even then, "I am before [a place]" sounds weird. "I stand/stood before [a place/person"] would sound more natural.
No, uns is both a regular accusative/dative pronoun, and a reflexive accusative/dative pronoun, and can only be used for "us".
Sich is only a reflexive accusative/dative pronoun, and can only be used for "him/her/them/you (formal)".
E.G.:
(literal translations)
- „Ich befinde mich...“ - "I find myself..."
- „Du befindest dich...“ - "You find yourself..." (informal)
- „Ihr befindet euch...“ - "You find yourselves..." (informal)
- „Wir befinden uns...“ - "We find ourselves..."
- „Er befindet sich...“ - "He finds himself..."
- „Sie befindet sich...“ - "She finds herself..."
- „Sie befinden sich...“ - "They find themselves..." or "You find yourself/selves..." (formal)