Breakdown of Der Nachbar vermietet sein Haus an Studenten.
das Haus
the house
sein
his
der Nachbar
the neighbor (male)
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
der Student
the university student
vermieten
to rent out
Questions & Answers about Der Nachbar vermietet sein Haus an Studenten.
What is the difference between mieten and vermieten?
Mieten means to rent something for yourself (to be the tenant), while vermieten means to rent something out to someone else (to be the landlord). The prefix ver- often changes a verb to show the opposite direction of a transaction, just like kaufen (to buy) and verkaufen (to sell).
Why do we use the preposition an here instead of zu for 'to'?
The verb vermieten specifically pairs with the preposition an to express who you are renting the property to. In German, certain verbs require specific fixed prepositions, and vermieten an is one you must memorize together.
Since an is a two-way preposition, why does it take the accusative case here instead of the dative?
Although an often takes the dative to show a fixed location, it takes the accusative here because it describes a transfer or abstract direction (handing the rights of the house over to the students). When an is used as a fixed preposition with verbs of transfer or thought, it almost always takes the accusative.
Why does Studenten end in -en here?
In this sentence, Studenten is simply the plural form of Student in the accusative case. However, it is a great time to remember that Student is a weak noun (part of the N-declension). This means it takes an -en ending in every case except the nominative singular. Because of this rule, if the neighbour were renting to just one male student, it would still be an einen Studenten.
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