Breakdown of Der Schüler schreibt einen langen Aufsatz über rote Blumen.
lang
long
die Blume
the flower
schreiben
to write
einen
a
über
about
rot
red
der Schüler
the pupil
der Aufsatz
the essay
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Questions & Answers about Der Schüler schreibt einen langen Aufsatz über rote Blumen.
What case is der Schüler in, and how can I tell?
der Schüler is in the nominative case. You know because it’s the subject of the sentence (the one doing the action), and nominative is always used for subjects. The article der is the nominative masculine singular form.
Why is it einen langern Aufsatz?
Because Aufsatz is masculine (der Aufsatz) and here it’s a direct object, so it takes the accusative case. The masculine accusative indefinite article is einen. The adjective lang gets the weak ending -en in accusative masculine after an article (einen → langen).
Why does lang become langen in langen Aufsatz?
German adjectives change ending according to gender, case and whether there’s an article. After an indefinite article in masculine accusative, adjectives take the weak ending -en. So lang → langen.
Why is there no article before rote Blumen?
There is no indefinite article in plural (like English “some”), so you either use a definite article (die roten Blumen) or no article (rote Blumen) when speaking about flowers in general or unspecified ones. Here the phrase is indefinite plural, so the article is omitted.
What case is rote Blumen in, and why?
It’s in the accusative case because it’s the object of the preposition über in the meaning “about.” Many prepositions—including über when it means “about”—require the accusative. Since Blumen is plural and no article precedes it, the adjective takes the strong ending -e.
Why does über take the accusative here, not the dative?
Prepositions in German can govern either dative or accusative depending on meaning. über meaning “above” (location) takes dative, but über meaning “about/concerning” takes accusative. In schreibt über rote Blumen, über means “about,” so we use the accusative.
Could I move über rote Blumen somewhere else in the sentence?
Yes, you can move prepositional phrases for emphasis, but the verb must stay second (V2) in main clauses. For example:
• Über rote Blumen schreibt der Schüler einen langen Aufsatz. (emphasis on the topic)
• Einen langen Aufsatz schreibt der Schüler über rote Blumen. (emphasis on the essay)
Why are Schüler, Aufsatz and Blumen capitalized?
All German nouns are always capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence. That’s a key spelling rule in German.