Breakdown of Der Verkäufer verkauft Obst.
das Obst
the fruit
verkaufen
to sell
der Verkäufer
the shop assistant, the salesman
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Questions & Answers about Der Verkäufer verkauft Obst.
Wait, is verkauft in the present or past tense here?
It is in the present tense (meaning "sells"), but it is completely normal to be confused! The verb verkaufen is an inseparable verb because it starts with ver-. As you are learning in this lesson, inseparable verbs do not add ge- to form their past participle. Because of this, the past participle of verkaufen is also verkauft. If this sentence were in the past tense (Perfekt), it would need the helper verb haben: Der Verkäufer hat Obst verkauft (The shop assistant sold fruit).
Does Verkäufer literally mean "seller"?
Exactly! It comes from the verb verkaufen (to sell). In English, we usually say "shop assistant" or "clerk", but in German, anyone whose job is to sell things in a store is a Verkäufer (or Verkäuferin for a woman). Notice how the base verb kaufen means "to buy", and adding the prefix ver- flips the meaning to "to sell".
Why is there no article before Obst? Shouldn't it be das Obst?
Just like in English ("sells fruit", not "sells the fruit"), German drops the article when talking about an uncountable category in a general sense. Obst is a collective noun for all kinds of fruit, and it is almost always used without an article when talking about fruit generally.
Why is it Der Verkäufer and not Den Verkäufer?