Why “with” in the middle?
First of all, I'm not a native speaker, so if I make a mistake, please feel free to correct it. Regarding the title, I've encountered this structure many times, but I just can't seem to grasp it. Especially "mit" in everyday German instead of in the text. "Ich bringe Thomas mit nach Hause" (I'm bringing Thomas home with me) but not "Ich bringe Thomas nach Hause mit" (I'm bringing Thomas home with me). Why does this exist? Why is 'mit' simply in the middle of the sentence? Other examples I've seen:
We take our books to school.
He brings his girlfriend to the party.
I take my dog to the office. (I wrote this one myself, it could be wrong.)
I would use it as "bring" and simply move the "with" to the end of the sentence instead of using it after the thing we're bringing/carrying. I know that would be wrong in this case, so I'm using it correctly, but I just don't understand the meaning behind it. If anyone knows what this structure is called and how to use it correctly, I'd be grateful.
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The normal structure separable verbs is as you have learned, namely that the prefix moves to the end of the sentence in the main sentence (present/preteritum).
But sometimes we prefer to use the prefixes in separable verbs before preposition alphrase as a whole at the end, i.e. the preposition alphrase is excluded1, e.g.
Example sets:
1 In more comprehensive grammars, you should find something in “Setting Clamp or Frame Forming, Clamping or Frameing.”
2 Clamping takes place particularly frequently when the preposition alphrase is very extensive. Also in 1 is a clipping (after “find” 😉).
You can also put it to the end. It doesn’t change sense. I’ll take the dog to the office.
The phrase “I take the dog to the office”
Subject: “I”
Predikat: “take”
Object: “the dog”
Adverbial provision: “with in the office”
Subject – Predikat – Object, followed by further information such as adverbial regulations.
Then in only one set element we have two prepositions directly in succession. At first glance, it seems honestly unusual.
No, you’re bringing together parts that don’t belong grammatically. The “with” has nothing to do with the location indication, but is part of the separable verb “with”: “with”= prefix/prefix.
Adverbial determination: “with in the office” – This part indicates where the dog is taken. It describes the direction or location of the action
Where? The adverbial order of the place is “in the office”. “With” does not belong to it, but to the verb “with”.
Adverbiale is without “with”
The predicate is to take with / take with