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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?