Breakdown of Hier ist der Pinsel. Bitte streich die Wand!
sein
to be
hier
here
bitte
please
die Wand
the wall
Questions & Answers about Hier ist der Pinsel. Bitte streich die Wand!
Why is the verb streich instead of streichst?
streich is the command form (imperative) for du (informal singular "you"). To tell one person to do something, you take the du form (du streichst) and drop both the pronoun du and the -st ending.
Does streichen mean "to paint" like an artist paints a canvas?
No, streichen is used for painting surfaces, like applying a coat of paint to a wall, a fence, or a house. If you are painting a picture or creating art, you would use the verb malen instead.
This lesson is about da-compounds. How would I use one here to say "Please paint the wall with it"?
You would use damit (with it). The sentence would become: Bitte streich die Wand damit! When referring to an inanimate object like der Pinsel (the paintbrush) combined with a preposition like mit (with), German uses a da-compound (damit) instead of a regular pronoun (mit ihm).
Is die Wand in the accusative case here?
Yes! It is the direct object receiving the action of being painted. Because Wand is a feminine noun, its article die looks exactly the same in the accusative case as it does in the nominative case.