Forum Rocket German German Grammar Deine Mutter darf der Mann trotz ihrer Art nicht beleidigen!

Deine Mutter darf der Mann trotz ihrer Art nicht beleidigen!

sfpugh

sfpugh

I don't get this sentence from 14.8:
Deine Mutter darf der Mann trotz ihrer Art nicht beleidigen!
It is translated as:
Your mother shouldn't /may not be insulted by the man in spite of her ways!
Shouldn't der Man be dative?
James-R81

James-R81

I think that "deine Mutter" is the object and is therefore in the accusative, and "der Mann" is the subject and is therefore in the nominative.  
Paul-Weber

Paul-Weber

Hi there,

James is partly correct. These both cases depend on the meaning. It's either:
"Your mother shouldn't be insulted by the man." which uses the nominative case for "der Mann."
" Deine Mutter darf der Mann nicht beleidigen."
or 
"Your mother shouldn't insult the man." which uses the accusative case for "den Mann."
" Deine Mutter darf den Mann nicht beleidigen."

Besten Gruss!

Paul
sfpugh

sfpugh

I think I understand so taking it literally
The man is not allowed to insult the mother...

I always thought it was odd that the feminine accusative case is the same as the nominative.
 

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