Questions & Answers about Der Bleistift ist neu.
Why is it der Bleistift here and not den Bleistift?
Even though you are currently learning about the accusative case, the verb ist (is) is a special exception. It acts like an equals sign between the subject and its description, so it never takes the accusative case. The pencil is the subject doing the being, so it stays in the nominative case as der Bleistift.
Why doesn't the word neu have an ending like neue?
When an adjective comes after the verb (like ist) to describe the subject, it keeps its basic dictionary form. It only gets an extra ending if it is placed directly in front of a noun, such as in the phrase der neue Bleistift (the new pencil).
Is there a trick to remembering that Bleistift is a masculine (der) noun?
Yes! Bleistift is a compound word made of Blei (lead) and Stift (pen or peg). In German, compound nouns always take the gender of the very last word in the chain. Since der Stift is masculine, der Bleistift is also masculine.
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