Breakdown of Wir suchen uns einen Film aus.
ein
a, an (eine)
wir
we
der Film
the movie / the film
sich aussuchen
to choose / to pick out
Questions & Answers about Wir suchen uns einen Film aus.
Why do we need the word uns here if the English translation doesn't say 'ourselves'?
The German verb sich aussuchen (to choose or pick out) is a reflexive verb. You are literally saying 'We are picking out a film for ourselves.' When a reflexive verb has a direct object (einen Film), the reflexive pronoun (uns) must take the dative case.
Is uns in the dative or accusative case in this sentence?
It is in the dative case. The pronoun wir (we) becomes uns in both the accusative and dative cases, which can be confusing! You can tell it is dative here because the accusative slot is already taken by the direct object, einen Film.
Why is aus sitting all by itself at the end of the sentence?
The full verb is aussuchen. It is a separable verb. In a normal main sentence like this one, the prefix aus breaks off and travels to the very end, while the conjugated part (suchen) stays in the second position.
Why is it einen Film instead of just ein Film?
The noun Film is masculine (der Film). Because the film is the direct object being acted upon, it must be in the accusative case. For masculine nouns in the accusative, ein changes to einen.
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