Meine Geldbörse bleibt in der Tasche, weil ich an der Kasse mit dem Handy zahle.

Meine Geldbörse bleibt in der Tasche, weil ich an der Kasse mit dem Handy zahle.
My wallet stays in the bag because I pay at the checkout with my phone.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching German grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning German now

Questions & Answers about Meine Geldbörse bleibt in der Tasche, weil ich an der Kasse mit dem Handy zahle.

Why is Geldbörse feminine and why do we say meine Geldbörse instead of mein Geldbörse?
German nouns have grammatical gender. Geldbörse is a feminine noun, so in the nominative case you use the feminine form of the possessive pronoun: meine (not mein, which is for masculine/neuter). You therefore say meine Geldbörse.
Why does bleibt appear in second position in the first clause?

In a German main clause the finite verb always occupies the second position (V2 word order). Here the subject Meine Geldbörse is first, so the verb bleibt comes right after:
1) Meine Geldbörse (position 1)
2) bleibt (position 2) …

Why is it in der Tasche and not in die Tasche, and why is the article der?
  • in can govern dative or accusative depending on whether you’re talking about location (dative) or movement (accusative).
  • bleibt expresses a static location (“remains in”), so you need the dative.
  • Tasche is feminine; the dative singular feminine article is der. Hence in der Tasche.
What would change if I were putting the wallet into the bag rather than it already staying there?

You’d express movement toward the inside of the bag, so you use the accusative:
“ Ich stecke meine Geldbörse in die Tasche. ”
Here in + accusative (die Tasche) shows direction.

Why does weil push the verb zahle to the end of the second clause?

weil is a subordinating conjunction in German. In subordinate clauses introduced by weil, the finite verb moves to the final position. So instead of the usual V2 order, you get:
… weil ich an der Kasse mit dem Handy zahle.

Why is it an der Kasse and not am Kasse?
  • an
    • dative expresses location at something (here, the checkout).
  • Kasse is feminine, so the dative article is der.
  • Only an + dem (masculine/neuter dative) can contract to am. You cannot contract an der.
Why is mit dem Handy in the dative case?
The preposition mit always governs the dative case in German. Since Handy is neuter, the dative article is dem.
Can I swap an der Kasse and mit dem Handy in the subordinate clause?

Yes. German allows flexible ordering of adverbial/prepositional phrases. Both are equally valid:
– … weil ich an der Kasse mit dem Handy zahle.
– … weil ich mit dem Handy an der Kasse zahle.

Could I use bezahlen instead of zahlen here?

Yes. Both verbs can work:
– zahlen (intransitive here) + prepositional phrase: … ich zahle mit dem Handy.
– bezahlen (transitive) normally takes a direct object, e.g. … ich bezahle den Einkauf mit dem Handy.
In everyday speech you’ll often hear either one without a major difference in meaning.