Breakdown of Wer holt das Glas aus dem Schrank?
aus
from / out of (made of)
wer
who
das Glas
the glass
der Schrank
the cupboard / the closet
holen
to get / to fetch
Questions & Answers about Wer holt das Glas aus dem Schrank?
Why does the sentence use dem Schrank instead of der Schrank or den Schrank?
The preposition aus (out of) always requires the Dative case. Because Schrank is a masculine noun (der Schrank), the article der changes to dem in the Dative case.
Does the preposition aus also change das Glas into the Dative case?
No, prepositions only affect the noun phrase directly attached to them. Here, aus only affects dem Schrank. The phrase das Glas is the direct object of the verb holt (the thing being fetched), so it takes the Accusative case. For neuter words, the Accusative article stays das.
Why does the verb holen end in -t (holt) here?
The question word wer (who) acts as the subject of the sentence. In German, wer is always treated as a third-person singular subject, exactly like er (he), sie (she), or es (it). Therefore, holen takes the third-person ending -t to become holt.
Why use holt instead of nimmt (takes) for getting a glass?
While nehmen means to take something, holen specifically means to go and fetch something. In this sentence, it implies someone has to actively go over to the cupboard to retrieve the glass.
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