Questions & Answers about Ich werfe alte Bücher nicht weg.
What is the separable verb in the sentence Ich werfe alte Bücher nicht weg, and why does it split?
The separable verb is wegwerfen (to throw away). In the present tense, German separable verbs detach their prefix and place it at the end. So the stem werf- is conjugated for ich as werfe, and the prefix weg moves to the sentence-final position.
Why is nicht placed before weg rather than in another position?
In German, nicht usually appears immediately before the element it negates. Here you’re negating the action of throwing away (the prefix weg), so nicht comes just in front of weg at the end of the clause.
What case is alte Bücher, and why is there no article before it?
alte Bücher is the direct object of werfe, so it’s in the accusative plural. There’s no article because you’re talking about old books in general (an indefinite or generic reference). German often omits the article with plural nouns in such contexts, known as the zero-article construction.
Why is the adjective alte marked with -e rather than -en or -er?