Breakdown of Ich schreibe eine kurze E-Mail und kaufe eine gebrauchte Kamera.
ich
I
ein
a, an (eine)
und
and
kaufen
to buy
Questions & Answers about Ich schreibe eine kurze E-Mail und kaufe eine gebrauchte Kamera.
Why do the adjectives kurz and gebraucht both end in -e in this sentence?
Both E-Mail and Kamera are feminine nouns acting as direct objects (in the accusative case). When you have a feminine noun in the accusative case following the indefinite article eine, the adjective describing it takes an -e ending. That is why we get eine kurze E-Mail and eine gebrauchte Kamera.
How do we know to use eine for E-Mail? Is it a feminine noun?
Yes, standard German treats the borrowed word E-Mail as a feminine noun (die E-Mail). Because you are writing it, it is the direct object of the sentence. The accusative word for 'a' with feminine nouns is eine.
Gebraucht looks like a past tense verb. Can it just be used as a normal adjective here?
Exactly! Just like in English, German often uses past participles (the verb forms usually starting with ge-) as adjectives. Gebraucht means 'used'. When placed right before a noun, it follows the exact same adjective ending rules as any regular adjective.
Why isn't there another ich after und?