Breakdown of Ich will mein Geld nicht für ein teures Möbelstück ausgeben.
ich
I
ein
a, an (eine)
das Geld
the money
nicht
not
teuer
expensive
mein
my
wollen
to want
für
for
das Möbelstück
the piece of furniture
ausgeben
to spend (money)
Questions & Answers about Ich will mein Geld nicht für ein teures Möbelstück ausgeben.
Why does the adjective teuer have an -es ending here?
The phrase für ein teures Möbelstück is in the accusative case because the preposition für always forces the accusative. The word Möbelstück is neuter (das Möbelstück). After the indefinite article ein, which doesn't clearly show the gender on its own, the adjective has to do the work. Therefore, it takes the neuter accusative ending -es.
The dictionary word for expensive is teuer. Shouldn't the declined form be teueres?
German drops the extra 'e' to make pronunciation easier! When adjectives end in -er or -el (like teuer or dunkel), they usually drop the unaccented 'e' from the stem before adding an ending. So, teuer plus the -es ending becomes teures.
Why doesn't mein Geld have an ending, like meines Geld or meinen Geld?
Geld is a neuter noun (das Geld) and acts as a direct object here, putting it in the accusative case. For neuter nouns in the nominative and accusative cases, possessive articles like mein do not get an extra ending. They behave exactly like the basic indefinite article ein.
The verb ausgeben (to spend) is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up in this sentence?
Because of the modal verb will (want to). When you use a modal verb, it takes the conjugated spot in the second position of the sentence. The main action verb (ausgeben) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence and must stay in its full, un-split infinitive form.
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