Questions & Answers about Wir nehmen die U-Bahn.
The lesson is about vowel-changing verbs. Why doesn't the vowel change in nehmen here?
Vowel changes in strong verbs only happen in the du (you, singular) and er/sie/es (he/she/it) forms! Since the subject here is wir (we), the verb keeps its normal vowel and uses the standard infinitive form. If the sentence were "he takes", the vowel would change and the "m" would double: er nimmt.
What does the "U" in U-Bahn stand for?
It stands for Untergrund (underground). The word Bahn means train, track, or railway. So, an U-Bahn is literally an "underground railway", which is how German says "subway".
Is die U-Bahn in the accusative case here?
Yes! The subway is the direct object of the sentence (the thing being taken), so it is in the accusative case. Because U-Bahn is a feminine noun, the word for "the" is die. Luckily for German learners, the feminine die looks exactly the same in both the subject (nominative) and object (accusative) cases.
Is nehmen always used for transportation in German, just like in English?
Yes, using nehmen (to take) for modes of transportation is very common and works exactly like it does in English. You can easily say Wir nehmen den Bus (We are taking the bus) or Wir nehmen ein Taxi (We are taking a taxi).
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