Breakdown of Der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern bietet einen Rabattcode für neue Kunden an.
Questions & Answers about Der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern bietet einen Rabattcode für neue Kunden an.
Stromanbieter is a compound noun:
- Strom = electricity, power
- Anbieter = provider, supplier (from the verb anbieten – to offer/provide)
So Stromanbieter literally means electricity provider or power supplier.
German very often builds long compound nouns instead of using several separate words. So instead of Strom Anbieter or Anbieter von Strom, German prefers the single word Stromanbieter.
Because it’s a noun, it’s capitalized. In German, all nouns are capitalized, not just proper names.
Both are grammatically possible; the choice changes the meaning slightly.
Der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern …
→ the electricity provider of my parents (a specific, known provider)Ein Stromanbieter meiner Eltern …
→ one electricity provider of my parents (implies that they might have or have had several providers, and you’re talking about one of them)
In ordinary context, you typically mean the current, specific provider, so der Stromanbieter is the natural choice.
Meiner Eltern is in the genitive case, used mainly to express possession or close association:
- der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern
= the electricity provider of my parents
= my parents’ electricity provider
Eltern (parents) is always plural, so here is the full declension with meine Eltern:
- Nominative: meine Eltern (my parents – subject)
- Accusative: meine Eltern (I see my parents)
- Dative: meinen Eltern (I give something to my parents)
- Genitive: meiner Eltern (the house of my parents)
So meiner is the genitive plural form of meine.
Yes, you can. Both are correct:
- der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern (genitive)
- der Stromanbieter von meinen Eltern (preposition + dative)
Differences:
Genitive (meiner Eltern)
– More concise, a bit more formal or written style
– Very standard in written Germanvon + dative (von meinen Eltern)
– Feels a bit more colloquial/natural in spoken German
– Especially common where the genitive sounds heavy or complicated
In this specific sentence, meiner Eltern is completely normal and idiomatic. von meinen Eltern is also fine, just slightly more conversational.
Anbieten is a separable verb:
- base form: anbieten = to offer
- stem: bieten
- separable prefix: an
In a main clause in the present tense, separable verbs split:
- Der Stromanbieter (subject)
- bietet (conjugated verb part in 2nd position)
- …
- an (prefix goes to the end of the clause)
So:
- Der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern bietet einen Rabattcode für neue Kunden an.
In a non‑finite form, the verb is not split:
- … möchte einen Rabattcode anbieten.
- … hat einen Rabattcode angeboten.
This split is a key feature of separable verbs in German main clauses.
Rabattcode is a masculine noun:
- Nominative singular: der Rabattcode / ein Rabattcode
- Accusative singular: den Rabattcode / einen Rabattcode
In the sentence, einen Rabattcode is the direct object of bietet … an, so it must be in the accusative case. For masculine nouns, the indefinite article changes:
- Nominative: ein Rabattcode
- Accusative: einen Rabattcode
That’s why einen is used here.
Rabattcode is widely used and understood in modern German, especially online and in marketing. It’s effectively an Anglicism/modern formation:
- Rabatt = discount
- Code = code (from English)
Common alternatives include:
- Gutscheincode (voucher code / coupon code)
- Rabattgutschein (discount voucher; often a physical or digital coupon)
- Aktionscode (promo code)
In your sentence, Rabattcode is perfectly natural, especially in an online, marketing, or everyday context.
The key points:
- The preposition für always takes the accusative.
- Kunden here is plural (new customers in general).
- In the accusative plural without any article, the adjective ends in -e.
Pattern for plural accusative without article:
- Ich suche neue Kunden. (I’m looking for new customers.)
- Sie liefert frische Brötchen.
So we get:
- für neue Kunden = for new customers
If there were a definite article, the ending would change:
- für die neuen Kunden (for the new customers)
So für neue Kunden is the correct form with no article.
Context and forms both tell you it’s plural:
Meaning/context:
In marketing, “new customers” is normally plural – companies offer things “for new customers (in general)”.Form of the noun:
- Singular: der Kunde
- Plural: die Kunden
Kunden can be:
- plural (most likely here), or
- singular dative/genitive of der Kunde (less likely in this context).
Adjective ending:
neue Kunden (no article) naturally suggests plural. If it was singular accusative, you’d expect:- einen neuen Kunden (a new customer)
Because it’s für neue Kunden (no article, plural form), the only natural reading is plural: new customers.
This is standard main-clause word order:
- Position 1: Der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern (subject)
- Position 2: bietet (conjugated verb)
- Middle field: einen Rabattcode für neue Kunden (objects and complements)
- End field: an (separable prefix)
You can move some parts for emphasis, but the verb rules stay:
- Conjugated verb in 2nd position
- an at the end
Examples:
Einen Rabattcode bietet der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern für neue Kunden an.
(Emphasis on “a discount code”)Für neue Kunden bietet der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern einen Rabattcode an.
(Emphasis on “for new customers”)
What you cannot change is:
- the conjugated verb must stay in second position
- the an must stay at the end of the clause.
Both mean “of my parents” / “my parents’”, but:
meiner Eltern (genitive)
- A bit more compact and more typical of written German
- Slightly more neutral/formal
- Very standard in descriptive or neutral prose
von meinen Eltern (von + dative)
- Slightly more colloquial or spoken style
- Very natural in everyday conversation
- Often preferred where a genitive construction would be long or clumsy
In this short, simple phrase, the difference is subtle.
Der Stromanbieter meiner Eltern might be what you see more often in written text;
Der Stromanbieter von meinen Eltern might be what many people say in everyday speech.
The sentence is stylistically neutral:
- Vocabulary: Stromanbieter, Rabattcode, neue Kunden — all standard, everyday words.
- Grammar: standard structure, nothing particularly formal or colloquial.
You can use this sentence both in spoken and written German, and in most contexts where you’re just describing a fact. It doesn’t sound slangy; it also doesn’t sound overly formal.