Questions & Answers about Er kommt wegen der Arbeit.
Why does the sentence use der before Arbeit when the word for work is usually die Arbeit?
In this sentence, Arbeit is in the genitive case. For feminine nouns like die Arbeit, the definite article changes to der in the genitive case.
What is making Arbeit take the genitive case here?
The preposition wegen (because of) is a genitive preposition. Any noun that directly follows it must be put into the genitive case in standard German.
Why doesn't the noun Arbeit get an -s at the end here?
In the genitive case, only masculine and neuter nouns get an extra -s or -es added to the end. Because Arbeit is a feminine noun, the word itself stays exactly the same.
What is the difference between saying wegen der Arbeit and für die Arbeit?
While both can translate loosely to "for work," wegen specifically means "because of" and points to the reason he is coming. Note that if you used für (for), it would trigger the accusative case instead (für die Arbeit).
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