German
In German, a noun phrase can be put in the accusative to indicate that the subject of the sentence has the property described. For example:
| Neben | ihm | saß | der | dünnhaarige | Pianist, | den | Kopf | im | Nacken, | und | lauschte. |
| next to | him | sat | the | thin-haired | pianist | the-masc.acc.sg | head | in the | neck | and | listened |
| "The thin-haired pianist, his head hanging (lit. his head in his neck), sat next to him and listened." | |||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Accusative Absolute
Famous quotes containing the word german:
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“A German immersed in any civilization different from his own loses a weight equivalent in volume to the amount of intelligence he displaces.”
—José Bergamín (1895–1983)
“By an application of the theory of relativity to the taste of readers, to-day in Germany I am called a German man of science, and in England I am represented as a Swiss Jew. If I come to be regarded as a bête noire the descriptions will be reversed, and I shall become a Swiss Jew for the Germans and a German man of science for the English!”
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955)