Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich.

I clean the bathtub thoroughly.

Breakdown of Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich.

• ich: I
• gründlich: thoroughly
• putzen: to clean
• die Badewanne: the bathtub

Questions & Answers about Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich.

Why is it die Badewanne and not der Badewanne or das Badewanne?

Every German noun has a grammatical gender.
Badewanne is grammatically feminine, so its article in the dictionary form is die Badewanne.

In the sentence Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich:

• die is the feminine accusative article (direct object).
• Badewanne is the thing being cleaned, so it’s in the accusative case.

So:

• Nominative (subject): die Badewanne
• Accusative (direct object): die Badewanne
• Dative (indirect object): der Badewanne
• Genitive: der Badewanne

Here we need the accusative (direct object of putzen), and for feminine nouns nominative and accusative are both die.

Why is it die Badewanne and not der Badewanne in this sentence?

Der Badewanne would be the dative form (to/for the bathtub).
In this sentence, the bathtub is not an indirect object; it’s the direct object, the thing directly affected by the action.

• Ich putze die Badewanne.
  → I clean the bathtub. (direct object → accusative → die)

Compare:

• Ich gebe der Badewanne einen neuen Stöpsel.
  → I give the bathtub a new plug.
  Here der Badewanne is dative (indirect object: to the bathtub), so we use der.

What does putzen mean exactly, and how is it different from reinigen, sauber machen, or waschen?

All of these relate to cleaning, but with different nuances:

• putzen
  Everyday word for cleaning dirt off surfaces or objects.

  • Ich putze die Badewanne. – I clean the bathtub.
  • Ich putze die Fenster. – I clean the windows.

• reinigen
  More formal/technical, often used in services or instructions.

  • chemisch reinigen – dry-clean
  • professionell reinigen lassen – have something cleaned professionally

• sauber machen
  Very colloquial and neutral, literally “make clean.”

  • Ich mache die Badewanne sauber. – I clean the bathtub.

• waschen
  “To wash” with water (often with soap), especially clothes, body parts, etc.

  • Ich wasche das Auto. – I wash the car.
  • Ich wasche mir die Hände. – I wash my hands.

For a bathtub in a normal household context, putzen and sauber machen are the most natural.

Why is it Ich putze and not Ich putzen?

Putzen is the infinitive form (to clean).
In German, verbs must be conjugated to match the subject.

For ich (I), regular verbs ending in -en usually take -e:

• ich putze – I clean
• du putzt – you clean (singular, informal)
• er/sie/es putzt – he/she/it cleans
• wir putzen – we clean
• ihr putzt – you clean (plural, informal)
• sie/Sie putzen – they / you (formal) clean

So with ich, the correct form is ich putze.

Where can I put gründlich in the sentence? Is Ich putze gründlich die Badewanne also correct?

In Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich, gründlich is an adverb describing how you clean (thoroughly). Its usual position is toward the end of the sentence, after the object:

• Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich. ✔️ (most natural)

Other options:

• Ich putze die Badewanne heute gründlich.
• Heute putze ich die Badewanne gründlich.

Ich putze gründlich die Badewanne is grammatically possible but sounds unusual and marked in standard German; it would only work in special emphasis or poetic style. In everyday speech, keep gründlich at the end as in the original sentence.

Is gründlich an adjective or an adverb here, and why doesn’t it change its ending?

In this sentence, gründlich functions as an adverb describing the verb putze (“I clean thoroughly”).

Adverbs in German do not change their form:

• Er arbeitet gründlich. – He works thoroughly.
• Sie putzt die Küche gründlich. – She cleans the kitchen thoroughly.

As an adjective (before a noun), gründlich does take endings:

• eine gründliche Reinigung – a thorough cleaning
• ein gründlicher Mann – a thorough man

So: adverb → no ending change; adjective before a noun → takes an ending.

Why is Badewanne capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

• die Badewanne – the bathtub (noun → capitalized)
• gründlich – thoroughly (adverb → not capitalized)
• putzen – to clean (verb → not capitalized)

So Badewanne must always start with a capital B when it is a noun.

How would I say “I cleaned the bathtub thoroughly” in the past tense?

Use the Perfekt (present perfect), which is the usual spoken past:

• Ich habe die Badewanne gründlich geputzt.

Formation:

• Auxiliary: haben (for putzen) → ich habe
• Past participle of putzen: geputzt (ge- + putz + -t)

Word order:

• Ich (subject)
• habe (conjugated auxiliary in 2nd position)
• die Badewanne gründlich (middle field: object + adverb)
• geputzt (past participle at the end)

If I replace die Badewanne with a pronoun, what do I use?

Badewanne is feminine and here it’s in the accusative case (direct object).
The corresponding pronoun is sie (lowercase).

• Ich putze die Badewanne gründlich.
• Ich putze sie gründlich.

Be careful not to confuse:

• sie (she/they or “her” as object) – lowercase
• Sie (you, formal) – uppercase

In this context, sie clearly refers to the bathtub.

How would the sentence change if there were several bathtubs?

Plural of die Badewanne is die Badewannen.

In the accusative plural, the article is still die:

• Ich putze die Badewannen gründlich. – I clean the bathtubs thoroughly.

Pronoun for plural (accusative) is also sie:

• Ich putze sie gründlich. – I clean them thoroughly.