Word
Die spontane Idee kostete insgesamt wenig Zeit.
Meaning
The spontaneous idea took little time overall.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Die spontane Idee kostete insgesamt wenig Zeit.
die Zeit
the time
wenig
little (in quantity)
die Idee
the idea
insgesamt
overall
Questions & Answers about Die spontane Idee kostete insgesamt wenig Zeit.
Which part is the subject, and what cases are being used?
- Subject: Die spontane Idee (nominative singular, feminine).
- Verb: kostete.
- Direct object: wenig Zeit (accusative; Zeit is feminine singular; wenig functions as the determiner).
- insgesamt is an adverb (“overall/in total”).
Why does the adjective end in -e (spontane) here?
With the definite article die in nominative feminine singular, adjectives take the weak ending -e. Compare:
Could it be spontanen or spontaner instead?
Use spontanen with dative/genitive feminine (with article) and in all plural cases; spontaner appears in strong declension (e.g., with no article) or in masculine nominative. Examples:
- mit der spontanen Idee (dative)
- die spontanen Ideen (plural)
- spontaner Einfall (masculine nominative, no article)
Why is it kostete instead of hat ... gekostet?