Breakdown of Ein Bagger blockiert die Straße.
ein
a, an (eine)
die Straße
the street
der Bagger
the excavator
blockieren
to block
Questions & Answers about Ein Bagger blockiert die Straße.
Why does the verb blockiert look like an English word, and how do I use it in the past tense?
Blockieren is one of many German verbs ending in -ieren, which are often borrowed from other languages. A great rule to remember at this level: verbs ending in -ieren never take a ge- prefix in the perfect tense. So, "The excavator has blocked the street" is simply Der Bagger hat die Straße blockiert.
What gender is Bagger, and are there related words I should know?
It is a masculine noun (der Bagger), which is why we use ein for the subject here. It comes from the verb baggern, which means to dig or dredge with heavy machinery. Fun fact: baggern is also widely used as colloquial slang for hitting on or flirting with someone!
Straße is feminine. Why isn't its article changing here?
In this sentence, die Straße is the direct object being blocked, so it is in the accusative case. For feminine nouns, the accusative article is exactly the same as the nominative article: die.
Since this lesson is about circumpositions, how would I say we are driving "around" this excavator?
You would use the structure um ... herum, which always takes the accusative case. Since der Bagger is masculine, it changes to den in the accusative. The resulting sentence would be: Wir fahren um den Bagger herum.
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