Der Automat nimmt Münzen an.

The vending machine accepts coins.

Breakdown of Der Automat nimmt Münzen an.

• annehmen: to accept
• die Münze: the coin
• der Automat: the vending machine; automated machine

Questions & Answers about Der Automat nimmt Münzen an.

Why is it der Automat and not die or das?

Because Automat is a masculine noun in German, so its nominative singular article is der.

In this sentence, der Automat is the subject: it is the thing doing the action.

• der Automat = the machine
• masculine noun
• nominative case here

So the sentence starts with Der Automat because that is the subject.

Why is the verb nimmt and not nehmen?

Because the subject is der Automat, which is third person singular (he/it form), and German verbs change according to the subject.

The infinitive is nehmen = to take / to accept.

Its present-tense forms include:

• ich nehme
• du nimmst
• er/sie/es nimmt
• wir nehmen
• ihr nehmt
• sie/Sie nehmen

Since der Automat is equivalent to er or es, the correct form is nimmt.

Also note that nehmen is a strong verb, so the vowel changes from e to i in some forms:

• nehmen → nimmt