Breakdown of Der alte Bildschirm wurde neben den Verstärker gestellt.
alt
old
neben
next to
stellen
to place / to put (upright)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
der Verstärker
the amplifier
der Bildschirm
the screen
Questions & Answers about Der alte Bildschirm wurde neben den Verstärker gestellt.
Why does this sentence use wurde instead of war?
This is the German passive voice in the simple past tense. We use wurde plus the past participle gestellt to focus on the action happening to the screen (it was being moved). If the sentence used war instead, it would be a state passive, describing the situation after the action was already finished.
Why is it neben den Verstärker and not neben dem Verstärker?
The word neben is a two-way preposition. Because the screen is being moved to a new location, it answers the question "where to?" (wohin?) and must use the accusative case (den). If the screen were already resting there, you would use the dative case (dem) to answer "where?" (wo?).
Why is the verb gestellt used here instead of gelegt?
The participle gestellt comes from stellen, which means to place something in an upright, vertical position. A screen (Bildschirm) typically has a base and stands upright. If you were placing it flat on its back, you would use gelegt (from legen).
Why does the adjective just end in an "e" in Der alte Bildschirm?
Since the definite article Der already shows us that the noun is masculine and in the nominative case, the adjective just takes the weak ending -e. If there were no article before it, the adjective would have to show the gender and case itself, making it alter Bildschirm.
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