Breakdown of Der hundertste Gast gewinnt ein Geschenk.
ein
a, an (eine)
das Geschenk
the gift
gewinnen
to win
der Gast
the guest
Questions & Answers about Der hundertste Gast gewinnt ein Geschenk.
Why does hundertste end in -ste instead of just -te?
For ordinal numbers from 1 to 19, German adds -te (like der zweite for the 2nd). But for numbers from 20 and up, including 100 (hundert), you must add -ste.
Why is the ending -ste and not -sten here?
Ordinal numbers follow the exact same ending rules as adjectives. Because Der hundertste Gast is the subject of the sentence (nominative case) and comes after a specific word for 'the' (der), the ending is just -e added to the -st base. If it were in a different case like dative, it would be dem hundertsten Gast.
What case is ein Geschenk, and why does it look like the subject form?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object (the thing being won). Geschenk is a neuter noun, and for neuter nouns, the accusative article (ein) looks exactly the same as the nominative article.
I count three words before the verb. Why isn't gewinnt in position 2?
In German, the verb must be the second chunk of information, not necessarily the second word. Der hundertste Gast (The 100th guest) belongs together as one single chunk (the subject). Therefore, gewinnt is correctly placed in position 2.