Breakdown of Die Pipette wurde für präzise Arbeit erfunden.
die Arbeit
the work
für
for
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
erfinden
to invent
die Pipette
the pipette
präzise
precise
Questions & Answers about Die Pipette wurde für präzise Arbeit erfunden.
Why use wurde ... erfunden instead of hat ... erfunden?
This sentence uses the passive voice in the simple past tense. We use wurde (was) and the past participle erfunden (invented) because we are focusing on what happened to the pipette, not who invented it. If we used hat erfunden, it would mean the pipette itself invented something!
Why does präzise end in an -e in this sentence?
The preposition für always forces the accusative case. Because Arbeit is a feminine noun and there is no article (like die or eine) before it, the adjective has to do the heavy lifting to show the case. It takes the strong feminine accusative ending, which is -e.
Since a pipette is used for measuring, does it take a zero-plural like Liter or Gramm?
Is erfunden related to the verb finden?
Yes! The base verb is finden (to find). Adding the inseparable prefix er- changes the meaning to erfinden (to invent). Because the prefix is inseparable, it does not add the usual ge- in the past participle. It changes the vowel exactly like the base verb does, making the participle erfunden.
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