Buying fruit and a few groceries at a German market stall is a compact lesson in quantity grammar and money. The conventions diverge from English in two telling ways: measure words stay singular after a number, and the substance follows with no "of". Below, a customer (die Kundin) buys from a stallholder (der Verkäufer). Watch the zwei Kilo Äpfel pattern, the price read off a comma, and the brisk paying ritual at the end.
The dialogue
Guten Morgen! Was darf es sein?
The vendor: Good morning! What can I get you?
Guten Morgen. Ich hätte gern zwei Kilo Äpfel.
The customer: Good morning. I'd like two kilos of apples.
Gern. Welche Sorte? Die roten oder die grünen?
The vendor: Sure. Which kind? The red ones or the green ones?
Die roten, bitte. Haben Sie auch Erdbeeren?
The customer: The red ones, please. Do you also have strawberries?
Ja, die sind heute besonders süß. Ein Schälchen kostet zwei Euro neunzig.
The vendor: Yes, they're especially sweet today. A little tub costs two ninety.
Dann nehme ich ein Schälchen. Und drei Stück von den Tomaten dort.
The customer: Then I'll take one tub. And three of those tomatoes there.
Sehr gern. Sonst noch etwas?
The vendor: Gladly. Anything else?
Nein, danke, das ist alles. Was macht das zusammen?
The customer: No thanks, that's everything. What does that come to altogether?
Das macht acht Euro fünfzig.
The vendor: That comes to eight fifty.
Kann ich mit Karte zahlen?
The customer: Can I pay by card?
Tut mir leid, hier nur bar.
The vendor: Sorry, cash only here.
Kein Problem. Hier sind zehn Euro.
The customer: No problem. Here's ten euros.
Danke. Und eins fünfzig zurück.
The vendor: Thanks. And one fifty back.
Stimmt so. Einen schönen Tag noch!
The customer: Keep the change. Have a nice day!
Grammar in context
zwei Kilo Äpfel — quantity, singular unit, then the substance
This phrase carries the whole point of the dialogue. Three things happen at once. First, the measure word stays singular after a number: zwei Kilo, never zwei Kilos. Second, the substance follows directly, with no preposition — German has no equivalent of English "of": zwei Kilo Äpfel, not zwei Kilo von Äpfeln. Third, Äpfel is the umlaut plural of der Apfel (Apfel → Äpfel). See quantities and measurements.
Ich nehme ein Kilo Kartoffeln und ein Pfund Möhren.
I'll take a kilo of potatoes and a pound of carrots.
drei Stück — counting with the universal unit Stück
Stück ("piece") is the neutral counter for individual items, and like other neuter measure words it stays singular: drei Stück, not drei Stücke, when counting. Here the customer says drei Stück von den Tomaten — and this is the one place von is correct, because she is picking three out of a known, definite set ("three of those tomatoes"). Contrast that with a plain quantity (drei Tomaten), where no von appears.
Geben Sie mir bitte fünf Stück.
Give me five, please. (counting items with 'Stück')
Haben Sie...? — asking whether something is in stock
Haben Sie Erdbeeren? ("Do you have strawberries?") is the standard way to ask about availability in a shop, alongside Gibt es...?. The customer uses Sie with the vendor — a stranger in a service role — and the object Erdbeeren is in the accusative (invisible on a plural, but accusative). See es gibt and impersonal constructions.
Ich nehme... — the buying verb
When you decide to buy, you say Ich nehme... ("I'll take..."). nehmen takes a direct object in the accusative: Ich nehme ein Schälchen (neuter, so no visible change), Ich nehme einen Apfel (masculine → einen). It is more decisive than Ich hätte gern — used at the moment of commitment rather than the initial request.
Dann nehme ich den großen Korb.
Then I'll take the big basket.
die roten / die grünen — adjectives standing in for nouns
When the vendor asks Die roten oder die grünen? and the customer answers Die roten, the noun (Äpfel) is dropped and the adjective carries the plural ending -en after the definite article. This is how German points to "the red ones" without repeating the noun — the article plus the inflected adjective does all the work.
Welche Tasche? — Die blaue, bitte.
Which bag? — The blue one, please.
Reading the price: acht Euro fünfzig and the decimal comma
A total of 8,50 € is spoken acht Euro fünfzig: whole euros, the word Euro, then the cents. Two transfer traps are baked in here — Euro stays singular after the number, and the price is written with a comma (8,50), where English would write a point. The change eins fünfzig (1,50 €) follows the same reading. See fractions, decimals, and arithmetic and number, date, and time errors.
Das macht zusammen zwölf Euro neunzig.
That comes to twelve ninety altogether.
bar oder mit Karte? and Stimmt so — the paying ritual
The fixed phrases at the till: bar ("in cash"), mit Karte ("by card"), and the question Kann ich mit Karte zahlen? (with the modal können sending the infinitive zahlen to the end). When the customer says Stimmt so — literally "it's right as is" — she is telling the vendor to keep the change. These set phrases are what make the transaction sound native rather than translated.
Zahlen Sie bar oder mit Karte?
Are you paying cash or by card?
Vocabulary
| German | Gender / plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| der Apfel | m., pl. die Äpfel | apple |
| das Kilo | n. (sg. after numbers) | kilo |
| das Stück | n. (sg. when counting) | piece |
| die Erdbeere | f., pl. die Erdbeeren | strawberry |
| das Schälchen | n. | little tub / small bowl |
| die Tomate | f., pl. die Tomaten | tomato |
| der Verkäufer / die Verkäuferin | m. / f. | salesperson |
| bar | adv. | (in) cash |
| die Karte | f. | card |
| nehmen | verb + acc. | to take |
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich hätte gern zwei Kilos Äpfel.
Wrong — the measure word stays singular: 'zwei Kilo Äpfel'.
✅ Ich hätte gern zwei Kilo Äpfel.
I'd like two kilos of apples.
❌ Ein Kilo von Äpfeln, bitte.
Wrong — no 'von' after a measure word with a plain quantity: 'ein Kilo Äpfel'.
✅ Ein Kilo Äpfel, bitte.
A kilo of apples, please.
❌ Das macht acht Euro 50.
Spoken as 'acht Euro fünfzig'; written with a comma: '8,50 €', never '8.50'.
✅ Das macht acht Euro fünfzig.
That comes to eight fifty (8,50 €).
❌ Kann ich mit Karte bezahle?
Wrong — the modal sends the infinitive to the end: 'Kann ich mit Karte zahlen/bezahlen?'
✅ Kann ich mit Karte zahlen?
Can I pay by card?
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Quantities, Measurements, and CountingA2 — Why German says zwei Glas Bier (not Gläser) and eine Tasse Kaffee (no 'of') — the singular-unit rule, feminine exceptions, and ein paar vs ein Paar.
- Expressions for Money, Shopping, and NumbersA2 — Transactional German for shops and restaurants — asking prices, ordering politely, paying, and the units-stay-singular rule, with culturally specific routines like Stimmt so and getrennt oder zusammen.
- Fractions, Decimals, and ArithmeticB1 — German fractions (das Drittel, drei Viertel), the decimal comma (3,5 = 'drei Komma fünf'), percentages, and how to read sums out loud.
- es gibt and Impersonal ConstructionsA2 — Why German says es gibt for 'there is/are' with the accusative and no plural, when to use es ist/es sind instead, and how impersonal es behaves.
- Prepositions That Take the AccusativeA2 — The closed set durch, für, gegen, ohne, um (plus bis, entlang, wider) always governs the accusative — no motion test, no alternation, just a memorized list.
- Number, Date, and Time ErrorsA2 — German numbers, dates, and times are a dense cluster of transfer traps: units before tens, the halb-drei reversal, the swapped decimal and thousands marks, and the singular unit after a count.