Breakdown of Wir wollen einen neuen Sänger suchen.
ein
a, an (eine)
wir
we
suchen
to look for
neu
new
wollen
to want
der Sänger
the singer
Questions & Answers about Wir wollen einen neuen Sänger suchen.
Why is there no German word for "for" in this sentence, like "look FOR"?
In English, "look" needs the preposition "for" to connect to what you are finding. In German, the verb suchen translates to "to search" or "to look for" all by itself. It takes a direct object in the accusative case, so you never use a preposition like für with it. This is a great reminder that not all English prepositional verbs translate to German prepositional verbs!
Why is it einen neuen Sänger instead of ein neuer Sänger?
The singer is the direct object of the sentence (the person being looked for), so it must be in the accusative case. Sänger is a masculine noun, so the indefinite article becomes einen and the adjective takes the accusative ending -en, making it neuen.
Why is the verb suchen at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the modal verb wollen (to want). In standard German sentences, a conjugated modal verb takes the second position, and it pushes the main action verb (suchen) to the very end of the sentence in its infinitive (unconjugated) form.
Does wollen mean "will"? Does this sentence mean "We will look for a new singer"?
No, wollen is a very common false friend! It means "to want". If you wanted to talk about the future and say "We will look for...", you would use the verb werden instead: Wir werden einen neuen Sänger suchen.
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