Breakdown of Wir vermieten den Keller, weil wir das Geld brauchen.
das Geld
the money
wir
we
brauchen
to need
weil
because (subordinating)
der Keller
the cellar, the basement
vermieten
to rent out
Questions & Answers about Wir vermieten den Keller, weil wir das Geld brauchen.
Why is it vermieten and not just mieten?
In English, 'to rent' can mean both paying to use something and charging someone to use it. German uses two different verbs for this: mieten means to rent something for yourself, while vermieten means to rent something out to someone else. Since 'we' are renting out the cellar, we use vermieten.
Why does the verb brauchen come at the very end of the sentence?
The word weil (because) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it pushes the conjugated verb in its clause all the way to the end. So instead of saying weil wir brauchen das Geld, we must say weil wir das Geld brauchen.
Could I use denn instead of weil here?
Yes! The word denn also means 'because', but it is a coordinating conjunction, which means it doesn't change the word order. If you used denn, the sentence would be: Wir vermieten den Keller, denn wir brauchen das Geld.
Why is it den Keller and not der Keller?
Keller (cellar or basement) is a masculine noun. In this sentence, it is the direct object being acted upon (it is the thing being rented out), so it takes the accusative case. The masculine word for 'the' changes from der to den in the accusative.
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