Ich reinige die Tastatur jeden Tag.

I

Breakdown of Ich reinige die Tastatur jeden Tag.

• die Tastatur: the keyboard
• reinigen: to clean
• jeden Tag: every day

Questions & Answers about Ich reinige die Tastatur jeden Tag.

Why is the article die used with Tastatur and how do I know its gender?

Tastatur is a feminine noun in German. Every noun in German has a fixed gender (masculine – der, feminine – die, neuter – das). In the accusative case (as the direct object), feminine remains die.
• Nominative (subject): die Tastatur
• Accusative (object): die Tastatur

Why is Tastatur in the accusative case?

Because it’s the direct object of the verb reinigen (“to clean”). In German:
• Subject (nominative): ich
• Verb: reinige
• Direct object (accusative): die Tastatur

Why is the time expression jeden Tag at the end of the sentence?

German follows the “verb-second” rule. Temporal adverbials like jeden Tag (every day) can go in several positions:

1. Front position:
   Jeden Tag reinige ich die Tastatur.
2. Middle position (between verb and object):
   Ich reinige jeden Tag die Tastatur. (very common)
3. End position:
   Ich reinige die Tastatur jeden Tag. (puts extra emphasis on the daily routine)

Why is jeden Tag in the accusative instead of the dative?

In German, many time expressions of duration or frequency take the accusative case without a preposition:
• jeden Tag (every day)
• letztes Jahr (last year)
If you add a preposition, you’d use the dative: an jedem Tag (on each day), but that’s less common for stating frequency.

How do I conjugate reinigen correctly for other subjects?

reinigen is a regular (weak) verb. Remove -en and add these endings:
• ich reinige
• du reinigst
• er/sie/es reinigt
• wir reinigen
• ihr reinigt
• sie/Sie reinigen

Can I use putzen instead of reinigen here?

Yes. putzen is more colloquial (“to clean, to polish”), while reinigen sounds a bit more formal or technical. Both are correct:
• Ich reinige die Tastatur jeden Tag.
• Ich putze die Tastatur jeden Tag.

What about using meine Tastatur instead of die Tastatur?

If you want to highlight that it’s your own keyboard, use meine Tastatur:
• Ich reinige meine Tastatur jeden Tag.
If you speak generally or the context already implies ownership, die Tastatur (the keyboard) is perfectly fine.