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Meaning
The book that is lying on the table was given to me as a present by my sister.
Word for word: The book, which on the table lies, was to me by my sister given.
Someone says that the book lying on the table was a gift from their sister; typical of written or careful spoken German when describing how one came to own something.
A main clause in the passive voice (werden-passive, past tense) whose subject 'das Buch' carries a relative clause 'das auf dem Tisch liegt'. The relative pronoun 'das' agrees with the neuter noun 'Buch' and is the subject of the relative clause, so it stands in the nominative. The passive auxiliary 'wurde' (preterite of werden) combines with the past participle 'geschenkt'; the recipient appears in the dative ('mir') and the agent in a von-phrase ('von meiner Schwester'). The possessive determiner takes the strong ending -er after 'von' in the feminine dative.
Rules at work(8)
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das auf dem Tisch liegt
The dass-clause introduced by the relative pronoun das modifies das Buch and its finite verb stands at the end.
A relative pronoun takes its gender and number from the noun it refers back to, and its case from the job it does inside the relative clause. The clause is verb-final and always separated by a comma.
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das auf dem Tisch liegt
In the relative clause the conjugated verb liegt comes last.
In a subordinate clause the finite verb stands last. Where the clause also holds a participle or an infinitive, the finite verb goes after them, so the order at the end is participle then auxiliary.
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wurde mir von meiner Schwester geschenkt
The process is expressed from the point of view of the object: wurden-passive with the participle geschenkt and the agent in a von-phrase.
Werden plus a past participle. The agent, when it is mentioned at all, follows von for a person and durch for a means. In the perfect passive the participle of werden appears as worden rather than geworden.
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mir ... von meiner Schwester
The recipient mir and the phrase after von both stand in the dative.
The dative marks the indirect object, usually the person something is given, said or shown to. A number of common verbs take a dative object where English would use a direct one, and several prepositions always take it.
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auf dem Tisch liegt
auf takes the dative here because it expresses static location rather than movement.
An, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen take the accusative when the phrase answers where to, and the dative when it answers where. The distinction is movement across a boundary against position, not motion against stillness.
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meiner Schwester
mein inflects like a strong adjective ending when no article precedes it.
Mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and Ihr take their stem from the owner and their ending from the thing owned, which is why seine Mutter and ihr Vater are the way they are.
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meiner
Without a preceding article the possessive determiner takes the strong ending -er in the feminine dative.
With no article in front of it the adjective has to carry the case marking itself, so it takes the endings the definite article would have had, with the exception of the masculine and neuter genitive singular.
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Das Buch ... wurde
The finite passive auxiliary occupies the second position of the main clause even though the extended subject phrase includes a relative clause.
In a German main clause the finite verb is always the second element. The first element can be the subject, but it can just as easily be a time expression, an object or a whole subordinate clause; whatever it is, it counts as one element and the verb follows it. This is why putting something other than the subject first pushes the subject after the verb.
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Words(11)
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- das Buch
book
nounA1pl. Büchergen. Buchesstrong declension
- auf
on, onto
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Location takes the dative, movement towards the accusative.
- der Tisch
table
nounA1pl. Tischegen. Tischesstrong declension
'Auf dem Tisch haben' is idiomatic: to have food on the table.
- liegen
to lie, to be situated, (of figures) to stand at
verbA1liegen, lag, ist gelegenmit seinstrong
With figures, 'liegen bei/um/über' means 'stand at/by above' — common in statistics and news.
- werden
become, will (future auxiliary)
verbA2werden, wurde, ist gewordenmit habenirregular
Also the passive auxiliary; do not confuse with bekommen (= receive).
- ich
I
pronounA1personal
- von
from, of, by
prepositionA1governs dative
Used here to mark authorship, like 'by' in English credits.
- mein
my
determinerA1possessive
- die Schwester
sister, nurse
nounA1pl. Schwesterngen. Schwesterweak declension
- schenken
to give as a present, to gift
verbA2schenken, schenkte, hat geschenktmit habenweakgoverns accusative and dative