Breakdown of Er schluckt alles und spuckt nur das Wechselgeld aus.
er
he
und
and
nur
only
alles
everything
schlucken
to swallow
ausspucken
to spit out
das Wechselgeld
the change (money)
Questions & Answers about Er schluckt alles und spuckt nur das Wechselgeld aus.
Why does the sentence start with Er if the English translation says 'It'?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. This sentence is likely talking about a vending machine (der Automat). Since that noun is masculine, we must use er to refer back to it, even though in English a machine is just an 'it'.
Why is aus at the very end of the sentence?
It is the prefix of the separable verb ausspucken (to spit out). In a standard main clause, the conjugated part of the verb (spuckt) takes its normal position, and the separable prefix (aus) gets kicked to the very end.
Could I use alle instead of alles here?
No, because alles specifically means 'everything' (referring to inanimate things or general concepts). If you used alle, it would mean 'everyone' or refer to a specific group of plural items, like 'all of the coins'.
Since this lesson is about the relative pronoun was, how would I add ', which annoys me' to the end of this sentence?
You would add a comma followed by was mich nervt. Whenever you want to use 'which' to refer back to an entire preceding situation (like the whole frustrating event of the machine keeping your money), you must use was instead of a regular relative pronoun like das.
Learn Er schluckt alles und spuckt nur das Wechselgeld aus and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free