Breakdown of Ich wühle in irgendeinem staubigen Haufen und suche irgendwelche Kartons.
ich
I
und
and
in
in
suchen
to look for
irgendein
some / any (singular)
staubig
dusty
der Karton
the cardboard box
wühlen
to rummage
irgendwelche
some / any (plural)
der Haufen
the pile (heap, disorganized)
Questions & Answers about Ich wühle in irgendeinem staubigen Haufen und suche irgendwelche Kartons.
Why does this sentence use irgendeinem with an -em ending?
irgendein- declines exactly like the indefinite article ein. Here, Haufen (pile) is a masculine noun, and the preposition in triggers the dative case because it answers the question of where the action is happening. Therefore, we need the dative masculine ending -em.
Why do we switch to irgendwelche for the cardboard boxes?
Just like the English word a or an, the German word ein does not have a plural form. To express the plural of irgendein- (meaning some or any), you must use irgendwelch-. Here it takes the accusative plural ending -e because it is the direct object of the verb suche.
Why is the ending on staubigen just -en instead of matching the -em on irgendeinem?
German adjective endings follow the rule of only needing one strong ending per noun phrase. Since the determiner irgendeinem already carries the strong dative masculine -em ending, the adjective staubigen takes the standard weak ending, which is -en for all dative nouns.
The English translation says 'searching for', but I do not see a word for 'for' in the German sentence. Why?
In German, the verb suchen directly takes an accusative object. You do not use a preposition like für with it. You simply search the boxes (suche irgendwelche Kartons), rather than searching for them.
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