I'm Travelling by Abraham's Car

Bahasa Indonesia - Deutsch

My students and I were in the parking area. We would go home, because the German class was over. My car was beside Abraham's car. While I was getting in the car I heard, what Lukas (not the real name) said as he got in Abraham's car, "Ich fahre bei Abraham." (Lukas meant that he's travelling by Abraham's car) I just smiled.

I've told my students in the class before, that preposition bei has also the meaning, that someone is taken care of by someone else. For example: "Ich lebe bei meinen Eltern." (I live (dependently) in my parents' home.) One says that because one cannot afford financially to live independently, therefore one lives in one's parents' home.

Lukas was very creative. He has come up with an idea to build such sentence. The car doesn't belong to him, it belongs to Abraham. Abraham's driver drove it. But Lukas may travel by Abraham's car and it was nice of Abraham. I was glad that Lukas was very creative. But I was not sure, whether the use of preposition bei in the sentence "Ich fahre bei Abraham" was correct.

The following are the comments from my friends in Germany. I just consider all friends. :-)

Ulli in Hamburg

Lukas would say, that he travels (together) with Abraham by car. But it means: Lukas faehrt bei Abraham mit im Auto. Do you see the different?

(Ulli meant the additional preposition mit should be added so that the sentence means "Lukas is travelling by Abraham's car".)

Mrs Engelhardt in Karlsruhe

Now I will answer your grammatical question. "Ich fahre bei Abraham" cannot be said. The right one is: "Ich fahre mit Abraham", or "Ich fahre bei Abraham mit." Both sentences are possible, the second sentence sounds surely a bit strange to your ears, but it is also possible. Nice, that your student was creative!

Ilona in Bodelshausen

Lukas should had said: "Ich fahre bei Abraham mit." It can be said, if Abraham himself drives or if he has a driver, but "Ich fahre mit Abraham" would mean more nearly that Abraham himself drives.

So, Lukas, it has only missed the prefix "mit" and it is indeed the trennbar verb "mitfahren". Not so terrible. It was really brave, that you just try to build German sentences.;-)


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