Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter, der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.

We are looking for an environmentally friendly electricity provider that sells only renewable energy.

Breakdown of Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter, der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.

• wir: we
• verkaufen: to sell
• nur: only
• der: that
• suchen: to look for
• die Energie: the energy
• erneuerbar: renewable
• einen: a; (masculine, accusative)
• umweltfreundlich: environmentally friendly
• der Stromanbieter: the electricity provider

Questions & Answers about Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter, der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.

Why is it „einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter“ and not „ein umweltfreundlicher Stromanbieter“?

Because „einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter“ is in the accusative case.

• The verb „suchen“ (to look for) takes a direct object in the accusative.
• The direct object here is „(einen) Stromanbieter“.

So:

• Masculine nominative: ein umweltfreundlicher Stromanbieter
  
  • e.g. Ein umweltfreundlicher Stromanbieter ist teuer.
• Masculine accusative: einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter
  
  • e.g. Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter.

The endings -en on „einen“ and „umweltfreundlichen“ both show the masculine accusative singular.

Why is it „umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter“ and not just „umweltfreundliche Stromanbieter“?

The difference is singular vs plural:

• „einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter“ = one environmentally friendly electricity provider (singular)
• „umweltfreundliche Stromanbieter“ = (some / many) environmentally friendly electricity providers (plural, with no article given)

In the sentence, „einen“ clearly shows that it’s one provider, so „Stromanbieter“ is singular and the adjective must also be singular: „umweltfreundlichen“.

Why do we use „der“ in „der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft“?

„der“ is a relative pronoun referring back to „Stromanbieter“.

• Stromanbieter is masculine, singular, nominative in the relative clause (because it is the subject of „verkauft“).
• The relative pronoun for masculine nominative singular is „der“.

So:

• Mask. Nom.: der
• Mask. Akk.: den
• Fem. Nom./Akk.: die
• Neut. Nom./Akk.: das

In the main clause, „Stromanbieter“ is accusative after „suchen“, but in the relative clause we look only at the function inside that clause, where the provider is the subject → nominative → der.

Why is there a comma before „der“?

In German, every relative clause is separated from the main clause by a comma.

• Main clause: Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter
• Relative clause: der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.

This is a fixed rule: before relative pronouns like der, die, das, welcher etc., you put a comma to start the relative clause.

Why does the verb go to the end in „… der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.“?

Because this is a relative clause, and in German:

• In main clauses, the verb is in second position:
  
  • Wir suchen einen Stromanbieter.
• In subordinate / dependent clauses (introduced by words like dass, weil, der, die, wenn etc.), the finite verb moves to the end:
  • … der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.
  • … weil er nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.

So the relative pronoun „der“ introduces a subordinate clause, which forces „verkauft“ to the end.

Why is it „erneuerbare Energie“ and not „erneuerbare Energien“ here?

Both forms exist, but they’re used a bit differently:

• „erneuerbare Energie“ (singular) treats energy as a mass noun:
  
  • like water, electricity, milk in English
  • focus on the type of energy sold.
• „erneuerbare Energien“ (plural) typically refers to different sources of renewable energy as categories:
  
  • Sonne, Wind, Wasser, Biomasse…
  • often used in political or technical contexts: „Ausbau erneuerbarer Energien“.

In this sentence, the provider sells electricity that comes from renewable sources; it’s natural to treat it as a mass noun → „erneuerbare Energie“.

Why is „Energie“ capitalized, but „erneuerbare“ is not?

In German:

• All nouns are capitalized → Energie
• Adjectives are normally not capitalized → erneuerbare

So:

• erneuerbare Energie → adjective + noun
• If you turn the whole phrase into a noun (substantiviertes Adjektiv), you capitalize the adjective:
  
  • die Erneuerbaren (short for die erneuerbaren Energien)

Why is there no article before „erneuerbare Energie“?

After the verb „verkaufen“ you can use an article, but it’s not required with mass nouns like Energie when speaking generally.

Compare:

• Ohne article (general):
  
  • Er verkauft nur erneuerbare Energie.
    → He sells only renewable energy (in general, as a type).
• With article (more specific):
  
  • Er verkauft nur die erneuerbare Energie, die er selbst produziert.
    → He sells only the renewable energy that he produces himself.

In this sentence we talk about the type of energy in general, so no article is perfectly natural.

How do I know that „Stromanbieter“ is masculine?

You normally have to learn the gender of nouns with the noun.

For compound nouns like „Stromanbieter“:

• The gender is determined by the last part of the compound.
• Anbieter (provider, supplier) is masculine: der Anbieter.
• Therefore, Stromanbieter is also masculine: der Stromanbieter.

So you get:

• Nominative: der Stromanbieter
• Accusative: den / einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter

What exactly does „Stromanbieter“ mean compared to „Stromversorger“ or „Lieferant“?

All are related, but with slightly different typical uses:

• Stromanbieter
  
  • literally electricity provider
  • very common in everyday language, especially about companies you can choose between as a customer.
• Stromversorger
  
  • more technical/official: electricity utility / supplier
  • often used for larger companies or regional utilities.
• Lieferant
  
  • general word: supplier, not specifically about electricity.

In your sentence, Stromanbieter is the natural, everyday choice.

Why is it „Wir suchen“ and not „Wir suchen nach“?

In German, both are possible, but they’re used a bit differently:

• „jemanden / etwas suchen“ (accusative object)
  
  • very common and direct:
  • Wir suchen einen Stromanbieter.
• „nach jemandem / etwas suchen“ (with „nach“)
  
  • often used for physically searching for something:
  • Wir suchen nach unseren Schlüsseln.
  • but can also be abstract: Wir suchen nach Lösungen.

With services or providers, the version without „nach“ is more typical:

• Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter. ✅
• Wir suchen nach einem umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter. ✅ (possible, but sounds a bit more formal or abstract)

Could I say „Wir sind auf der Suche nach einem umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter“ instead, and what’s the difference?

Yes, that’s correct, and quite common.

• „Wir suchen einen umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter.“
  
  • more direct, active; focus on the action of looking.
• „Wir sind auf der Suche nach einem umweltfreundlichen Stromanbieter.“
  
  • slightly more formal or descriptive; emphasizes the state of being in a search rather than the action itself.

Both are natural; your original sentence is shorter and more straightforward.

Is the word order „nur erneuerbare Energie“ fixed, or could I say „erneuerbare Energie nur“?

In this sentence, the neutral word order is:

• „… der nur erneuerbare Energie verkauft.“

Here:

• „nur“ (only) comes directly before the thing it limits → „erneuerbare Energie“.
• „Energie nur“ at the end would sound unusual and might be misinterpreted or emphatic in an odd way.

Some comparisons:

• Er verkauft nur erneuerbare Energie. ✅
  → He sells only renewable energy.
• Er verkauft erneuerbare Energie nur in Deutschland. ✅
  → He sells renewable energy only in Germany (here „nur“ limits „in Deutschland“).

So place „nur“ immediately before the word or phrase you want to restrict.