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?
Since the subject (ich) is the exact same for both actions (writing and buying), you do not need to repeat it after the connecting word und. Just like in English, you can simply say 'I am writing... and buying...' without repeating the pronoun.