Breakdown of Was für eine Klimaanlage wolltest du reparieren?
du
you (informal singular)
wollen
to want
reparieren
to repair
was für ein
what kind of
die Klimaanlage
the air conditioning
Questions & Answers about Was für eine Klimaanlage wolltest du reparieren?
Why is it was für eine instead of just was für ein?
The phrase was für ein- changes its ending based on the gender and case of the noun it describes. Klimaanlage is a feminine noun (die), and in this sentence, it is the direct object of the verb reparieren, which requires the accusative case. The feminine accusative ending for ein- is -e, giving us was für eine.
Since für is an accusative preposition, does it force eine to be accusative here?
No, this is a special exception! In the fixed phrase was für ein-, the word für loses its normal power to force the accusative case. The case of ein- is decided entirely by the noun's job in the sentence. It just happens to be accusative here because the air conditioning is the object being repaired. If it were the subject of the sentence, it would be nominative.
Why do we use wolltest instead of the spoken past tense (Perfekt)?
wolltest is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the modal verb wollen (to want). Even though spoken German usually prefers the two-part past tense for normal verbs, Germans almost always use the simple past for modal verbs like wollen, können, and müssen because it is shorter and sounds much more natural.
Why is reparieren at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard word order when using a modal verb. The conjugated modal verb (wolltest) takes the normal verb position right after the question word phrase, and it pushes the main action verb (reparieren) all the way to the end of the sentence in its infinitive dictionary form.
Learn Was für eine Klimaanlage wolltest du reparieren and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free