Breakdown of Ein neuer Anzug ist teuer, deshalb lasse ich beim Schneider die Hose kürzen.
ich
I
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
teuer
expensive
neu
new
die Hose
the pants / the trousers
beim
at the (bei + dem)
deshalb
therefore / that is why
der Anzug
the suit
lassen
to have something done (causative)
der Schneider
the tailor
kürzen
to shorten
Questions & Answers about Ein neuer Anzug ist teuer, deshalb lasse ich beim Schneider die Hose kürzen.
How does the combination of lasse and kürzen work to mean "having the trousers shortened"?
When you want to say you are having a service done by someone else, German uses the verb lassen as a causative verb. You conjugate lassen in the second position (lasse) and put the action verb in its infinitive form at the very end of the clause (kürzen). Literally, it means "I let the trousers shorten [by the tailor]."
Why is the verb lasse placed before the subject ich in the second clause?
Because of deshalb (therefore). It is an adverb that takes up the first position in its clause. In German, the conjugated verb must always take the second position in a main clause, so lasse comes right after it. This pushes the subject ich into the third position.
Why do we say beim Schneider to mean "at the tailor"?
beim is a contraction of bei dem (which uses the dative case). German uses the preposition bei to express being at the location of a person or a professional's workspace, such as a tailor, doctor, or hairdresser.
Why is it ein neuer Anzug and not just ein neue Anzug?
Anzug (suit) is a masculine noun acting as the subject (nominative case) here. Because the indefinite article ein has no ending in the masculine nominative, the adjective has to do the "heavy lifting" and show the gender by taking the strong ending -er.
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