Breakdown of Wir suchen einen Supermarkt.
ein
a, an (eine)
wir
we
suchen
to look for
der Supermarkt
the supermarket
Questions & Answers about Wir suchen einen Supermarkt.
Why is there no word for "for" in this sentence?
In English, we say we are "looking for" something. But the German verb suchen translates to the entire phrase "to look for" or "to search for". Adding an extra word like für here would be a mistake!
Why does this sentence use einen instead of ein?
Supermarkt is the direct object of the verb suchen—it is the specific thing being looked for. This means it must be in the accusative case. Because Supermarkt is a masculine noun, the indefinite article ein changes to einen. You will see this exact same rule in this lesson when using es gibt (there is) with masculine nouns!
How can I tell that Supermarkt is a masculine noun?
In German, compound words always take the gender of their very last part. The word is made of Super plus Markt. Since der Markt (the market) is a masculine noun, der Supermarkt is also masculine.
Why does suchen look exactly like its dictionary form?
When the subject of the sentence is wir (we), the conjugated verb almost always shares the exact same spelling as the infinitive dictionary form. So, the infinitive is suchen (to look for) and "we look for" is simply wir suchen.