Breakdown of Ein fremder Mann gab mir einen Briefumschlag, damit ich damit Kleingeld für den Ticketautomaten holen konnte.
der Mann
the man
ich
I
können
can
für
for
geben
to give
mir
me
damit
so that
den
the; (masculine, accusative)
holen
to get
fremd
strange
der Briefumschlag
the envelope
damit
with it
das Kleingeld
the small change
der Ticketautomat
the ticket machine
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Questions & Answers about Ein fremder Mann gab mir einen Briefumschlag, damit ich damit Kleingeld für den Ticketautomaten holen konnte.
What role does the first damit play in the sentence?
The first damit is a subordinating conjunction meaning “so that” or “in order to.” It introduces a purpose clause. In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb (here konnte) and any infinitive (here holen) move to the very end: damit ich … Kleingeld für den Ticketautomaten holen konnte.
What about the second damit—what does it mean?
The second damit is not a conjunction but a dative pronoun (mit + dem = damit), meaning “with it.” It refers back to den Briefumschlag, so damit Kleingeld holen is “to get coins with it (the envelope).”
Why is mir used as the indirect object?
The verb geben always takes a dative indirect object for the recipient. “mir” is the dative form of “ich,” so gab mir einen Briefumschlag means “gave me an envelope.”
Why does mir come before einen Briefumschlag?
When you have a pronoun and a noun as objects, pronouns generally precede noun objects. Here mir (pronoun, dative) comes before einen Briefumschlag (noun, accusative).
Why is it für den Ticketautomaten and not dem Ticketautomaten?
The preposition für always takes the accusative. Der Ticketautomat (m.sg.) in accusative becomes den Ticketautomaten. Note also that Ticketautomat is a weak masculine noun, so it adds -en in the accusative singular.
Could you use um … zu instead of damit, as in um Kleingeld … zu holen?
No, because um … zu requires that the subject of the main clause and the infinitive clause be the same. Here the giver (“ein fremder Mann”) and the one fetching coins (“ich”) are different, so you need damit to express purpose with a new subject.
Is the second damit optional?
Yes. You can say:
Ein fremder Mann gab mir einen Briefumschlag, damit ich Kleingeld für den Ticketautomaten holen konnte.
Without the second damit, the sentence still makes sense; you simply lose the explicit “with it” reference to the envelope.
Why is Kleingeld singular here?
Kleingeld is an uncountable (mass) noun in German—like “change” in English—so it stays in the singular form even when you mean “coins” or “small change.”