Ein Pfund Äpfel kostet zwei Euro.

In German, quantities and measures are very often followed directly by the noun, without von.

So ein Pfund Äpfel is the normal way to say a pound of apples.

This is the same pattern as:

• ein Kilo Kartoffeln = a kilo of potatoes
• eine Tasse Kaffee = a cup of coffee
• eine Flasche Wasser = a bottle of water

You may sometimes hear von in certain contexts, but for a basic measure expression like this, ein Pfund Äpfel is the standard phrasing.

Because the grammatical subject is ein Pfund, not Äpfel.

German verbs agree with the subject, and here ein Pfund is singular, so the verb is singular:

• Ein Pfund Äpfel kostet ...
• Zwei Pfund Äpfel kosten ...

Even though the apples themselves are plural, the sentence is really talking about one pound as a single amount.

In this sentence, Äpfel is best understood as being part of the measure expression ein Pfund Äpfel.

Learners often want to assign a simple case label to Äpfel, but with quantity phrases like this, the structure is a bit special. In practice, you should learn the whole pattern:

• ein Pfund Äpfel
• ein Kilo Birnen
• eine Tasse Erdbeeren

The important point is that after a measure noun like Pfund, German commonly uses the noun directly in the plural form.

Because Pfund is a neuter noun: das Pfund.

The indefinite article for a neuter noun in the nominative is ein.

So:

• das Pfund = the pound
• ein Pfund = a pound

If it were a feminine noun, you would use eine, but Pfund is not feminine.

Here, Pfund means a unit of weight, like pound in a pound of apples.

So in this sentence it is definitely about weight, not money.

German Pfund can also refer historically to a currency in some contexts, but in an everyday shopping sentence like this, it clearly means the weight measure.

Because Äpfel is the plural of Apfel.

• der Apfel = the apple
• die Äpfel = the apples

Many German nouns change their vowel in the plural by adding an umlaut, and Apfel → Äpfel is one example.

So the ä is not random; it is part of the plural form.

In standard German, the plural form is usually Euro, not Euros.

So you say:

• ein Euro
• zwei Euro
• drei Euro

This is normal for amounts of money in German. In very informal speech, some people may say Euros, but the standard form is Euro.

Because after numbers, German usually uses the noun directly, without an article.

So:

• zwei Euro
• fünf Äpfel
• drei Bücher

You would not normally say die zwei Euro here, unless you specifically mean the two euros in a special context.

In this sentence, zwei Euro is simply the price amount.

The basic order is:

Subject + verb + price/complement

So:

• Ein Pfund Äpfel = subject
• kostet = verb
• zwei Euro = price expression

This is a normal German main clause, where the finite verb is in second position.

Not if you want to say a pound of apples costs two euros.

Äpfel kosten zwei Euro would mean apples cost two euros, which sounds incomplete or more general in English too. It does not express the idea of one pound.

If you want the measure, you need ein Pfund:

• Ein Pfund Äpfel kostet zwei Euro.

Yes, but interestingly the form often stays the same:

• ein Pfund
• zwei Pfund

So German commonly uses Pfund unchanged after numbers.

Example:

• Ein Pfund Äpfel kostet zwei Euro.
• Zwei Pfund Äpfel kosten vier Euro.

The article changes and the verb changes, but Pfund itself usually does not add a visible plural ending here.

Äpfel is pronounced approximately like EP-fel, with a short vowel at the beginning.

A few helpful points:

• Ä here sounds somewhat like the e in bed, though not exactly the same
• pf is pronounced as a real consonant cluster in German: first p, then f
• the stress is on the first syllable: ÄP-fel

English speakers often find pf unusual at first, but it gets easier with practice.

Yes. This is a very common and useful pattern.

You can replace the measure, the item, or the price:

• Ein Kilo Tomaten kostet drei Euro.
• Ein Pfund Birnen kostet zweieinhalb Euro.
• Eine Flasche Saft kostet vier Euro.

So the pattern is:

[measure + item] + kostet/kosten + [price]

This is a great structure to learn for shopping and market conversations.