Ich bin dabei, das kaputte Fenster zu reparieren.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

I am fixing the broken window.

Is “Ich bin am reparieren das kaputte Fenster.” a legitimate alternative?

#2

No.

If you insist on that sentence structure, you’d need the “Genitiv”:

Ich bin am reparieren des kaputten Fensters.

But this is very awkward German.

Better: Germans very commonly use the word “gerade” to signal that they’re currently doing something (equivalent to the “I am currently doing” form in English). You could say:

Ich repariere gerade das kaputte Fenster.

Otherwise, you need the “(gerade) dabei sein, etwas zu tun” to express the ongoing “I am doing”, as in the given sentence “Ich bin (gerade) dabei, das kaputte Fenster zu reparieren.”

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