German Phrase
Sie kommen von Pflanzen.
Meaning
The sentence means “They come from plants.” It is used to state that something – a substance, a product, an idea – originates in plant material.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to explain the botanical origin of a product (e.g., natural dyes, food ingredients, medicines) or when discussing ecological sourcing in a scientific or everyday conversation.
✦Grammar Breakdown
SiekommenvonPflanzen.
Sie (pronoun)
Can be formal 'you' or third‑person plural 'they'. Context decides; here it means 'they'.
kommen (verb)
Present tense, 3rd person plural of kommen – 'to come'.
von (preposition)
Means 'from' and governs the dative case.
Pflanzen (noun, dative plural)
Plural of die Pflanze; in the dative after von it becomes Pflanzen.
Word order
Standard S‑V‑PP order in declarative sentences; the period ends the statement.
🗨In Conversation
Woher stammt das natürliche Farbstoff?
Where does the natural dye come from?
Sie kommen von Pflanzen.
They come from plants.
✕Common Mistakes
Sie kommen von Pflanze.
‘Pflanze’ is singular; after von you need the dative plural ‘Pflanzen’ when referring to multiple plants or plant material.
Sie kommen aus Pflanzen.
‘aus’ is possible but changes nuance; learners often mix the two prepositions. Use ‘von’ when emphasizing the source.
Sie kommt von Pflanzen.
‘Kommt’ is 3rd person singular; the subject ‘Sie’ here is plural, so the verb must be ‘kommen’.
↔Alternatives
Sie stammen aus Pflanzen.
They originate from plants.
Sie werden aus Pflanzen gewonnen.
They are obtained from plants.
Sie leiten sich von Pflanzen ab.
They are derived from plants.
Cultural Tip
In German, both von + dative and aus + dative can express origin, but von often stresses the source or point of departure, while aus stresses the material or interior. In scientific contexts, von is common (e.g., 'von Pflanzen' for compounds extracted from plants). Remember that the noun after von must be in the dative case, which for plural nouns looks identical to the nominative.