Breakdown of Der Lautsprecher, für den wir viel Geld bezahlten, ist kaputt.
sein
to be
das Geld
the money
wir
we
viel
much / a lot
bezahlen
to pay
für
for
kaputt
broken
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Lautsprecher
the speaker
Questions & Answers about Der Lautsprecher, für den wir viel Geld bezahlten, ist kaputt.
Why is the relative pronoun den used here after für?
The relative pronoun refers back to Der Lautsprecher, which is a masculine noun. The preposition für always requires the accusative case, so the masculine accusative pronoun den must be used to match.
Why does für come right after the comma, unlike the English translation which ends with 'for'?
In English, it is common to leave a preposition at the end of a relative clause. German rules are stricter: a preposition must always stay directly in front of the relative pronoun it works with. So für has to sit at the beginning of the relative clause, right before den.
The English translation says 'The speaker we paid...', leaving out words like 'that' or 'which'. Can we leave out den in German?
No, you can never drop the relative pronoun in German. English allows you to omit it when it acts as an object, but German grammar always requires the full relative pronoun phrase, like für den, to properly link the clauses together.
Why is the verb bezahlten placed right before the second comma?
Because it sits inside a relative clause. A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause, which means the conjugated verb (bezahlten) gets kicked to the very end of that specific clause, closing it out before the main sentence continues with ist kaputt.
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