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- Topic: German >
- "He searches for words in dic…
"He searches for words in dictionaries."
Translation:Er sucht Wörter in Wörterbüchern.
12 Comments
Isn't "suchen nach + D =>Er sucht nach Woertern ... " the proper way to phrase it?
But Duo doesnt accept "sucht nach" or it doesnt know "Worte" because Er sucht in Wörterbüchern nach Worten " was marked wrong, even if the sentence is definitly correct. And Wörter or Worte are both equal plural versuions of Wort.
But I guess the normal forum-user doesnt use Worte so often, so Duo doesnt know.
Your sentence however is not correct. „In Wörterbüchern“ can only go after whatever it is you’re searching for. Because we’re searching for words, „Er sucht nach Wörtern in Wörterbüchern“ is correct. However, „Er sucht Wörter in Wörterbüchern“ is simpler and means the same thing.
Why isn't the dictionary (i.e. das Buch) in plural dative: "Er sucht Wörter in den Wörterbuchern"?
Isn't the action (searching) taking place in the dictionary?
It is plural dative: Wörterbuchern, as opposed to Wörterbucher, which would be plural accusative. You mistake is using the article (den) while there was none in the original sentence.
"In den Wörterbücher" --> bestimmte Wörterbücher "In Wörterbücher" --> irgendwelche Wörterbücher
Wouldn't a nicer verb be nachschlagen? Er schlägt Wörter in Wörterbüchern nach
Depends on the context I guess: If you use nachschlagen, then you already know a word, and want to know how it is spelled, or what exactly it means. If you search, you might actually be looking for a word that describes the situation you want to describe (like in in thesaurus).
Admittedly, probably nachschlagen is the correct context. I'd say report it next time.
Why is the article in german omitted?
In Wörterbüchern instead of In den Wörterbüchern.
When could the article be omitted?
