Breakdown of Ich wollte ein Einzelzimmer ohne Minibar buchen.
ich
I
ein
a, an (eine)
wollen
to want
ohne
without
buchen
to book
das Einzelzimmer
the single room
die Minibar
the minibar
Questions & Answers about Ich wollte ein Einzelzimmer ohne Minibar buchen.
Why is wollte used here instead of the conversational past (Perfekt)?
wollte is the simple past (Präteritum) of the modal verb wollen (to want). Even in everyday spoken German, which usually prefers the conversational past, it is much more natural to use the simple past for modal verbs like wollen, können, and müssen.
Why is buchen at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses a modal verb (wollte). In German, the conjugated modal verb takes the second position in the sentence, and it pushes the main action verb (buchen) to the very end in its dictionary form (infinitive).
What case does ohne Minibar use, and why isn't there an article like eine?
The preposition ohne (without) always requires the accusative case. However, it is very common in German to drop the article entirely after ohne when talking about something in a general sense, so you don't need to say ohne eine Minibar.
If this sentence is a reply, how would the receptionist ask 'What kind of room did you want to book?' using was für ein-?
They would ask: Was für ein Zimmer wollten Sie buchen? Because Zimmer is a neuter noun and acts as the direct object (accusative case), the phrase takes the neuter accusative ending, which means it just stays was für ein.
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