Breakdown of Dein alter Staubsauger funktioniert leider nicht mehr.
funktionieren
to work (function)
alt
old
leider
unfortunately
dein
your (informal)
nicht mehr
no longer, not any more
der Staubsauger
the vacuum cleaner
Questions & Answers about Dein alter Staubsauger funktioniert leider nicht mehr.
Why does the adjective alt have an -er ending here (alter)?
In this sentence, Staubsauger (vacuum cleaner) is the subject, so it's in the nominative case. It is a masculine noun (der Staubsauger). Since the possessive article dein (your) doesn't have a special ending to show the gender, the adjective has to do that job. It takes the strong masculine nominative ending -er, making it alter.
How do you say "not anymore" in German? Is that what nicht mehr means?
Exactly! While mehr usually means "more", combining it with nicht creates the fixed phrase nicht mehr, which means "not anymore" or "no longer". So, funktioniert nicht mehr translates to "does not work anymore".
Why isn't there a translation for the word "does" in the German sentence?
English uses helper verbs like "do" or "does" to form negative sentences (does not work). German doesn't do this. You simply take the main verb and add nicht. So, "does not work" is just funktioniert nicht (literally: works not).
Why is the verb funktioniert the fourth word in the sentence?
In a regular German statement, the verb must be in the second position, not necessarily the second word. The entire subject phrase Dein alter Staubsauger belongs together and counts as position one. The verb funktioniert comes right after it, correctly sitting in position two.
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