Breakdown of Ich kaufe Brot fürs Frühstück.
ich
I
kaufen
to buy
das Brot
the bread
das Frühstück
the breakfast
fürs
for the (für + das)
Questions & Answers about Ich kaufe Brot fürs Frühstück.
What does fürs mean in this sentence?
fürs is a contraction made by combining the preposition für (for) and the neuter definite article das (the). So it literally translates to "for the".
Why is the article das used here?
The preposition für always forces the noun that follows it into the accusative case. The German word for breakfast is das Frühstück, which is a neuter noun. The accusative form of das is still das.
Do I have to use the combined word fürs?
No, you can absolutely write or say für das Frühstück. Both are perfectly correct, but combining them into fürs is very natural and common in everyday spoken German.
Why is there no article like "ein" or "das" before Brot?
Just like in English, when you talk about an uncountable noun in a general sense, you can leave out the article. You are buying "bread" in general, not "a bread" or "the bread", so Brot stands alone.
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