Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.

I read the detailed email several times.

Breakdown of Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.

• ich: I
• lesen: to read
• mehrmals: several times
• die E‑Mail: the email
• ausführlich: detailed

Questions & Answers about Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.

Why is it lese and not lesen in Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals?

Lesen is the infinitive form (to read). In the present tense, it has to be conjugated to match the subject ich:

• ich lese
• du liest
• er/sie/es liest
• wir lesen
• ihr lest
• sie/Sie lesen

Because the subject is ich, the correct form is lese: Ich lese …

What grammatical case is die ausführliche E‑Mail in, and why?

Die ausführliche E‑Mail is in the accusative case.

• The verb lesen takes a direct object (the thing being read).
• In German, direct objects are normally in the accusative.

So:

• Ich = subject (nominative)
• lese = verb
• die ausführliche E‑Mail = direct object (accusative)
• mehrmals = adverb of frequency

That’s why you see die (accusative feminine singular) and not some other form.

Why does the adjective end in -e in ausführliche E‑Mail?

The ending -e on ausführliche comes from adjective declension.

• The noun E‑Mail is feminine.
• The article is die in the accusative singular.
• After a definite article (der/die/das), German usually uses the weak declension for adjectives.

For feminine singular (both nominative and accusative) with die, the adjective ending is -e:

• die ausführliche E‑Mail (nom./acc. fem. sg.)

So the form ausführliche is required by the combination: definite article + feminine singular + accusative.

Why is the article die and not der or das here?

Because E‑Mail is treated as feminine in standard German, and it is the direct object:

• Feminine singular:
  • Nominative: die E‑Mail
  • Accusative: die E‑Mail

The subject form (nominative) and object form (accusative) are the same for feminine singular: die.

Der would be masculine nominative or feminine dative/genitive, and das would be neuter nominative/accusative, which do not fit E‑Mail here.

Is E‑Mail always feminine in German?

In standard modern German, E‑Mail is feminine: die E‑Mail.

• Dictionaries like Duden and DWDS list E‑Mail as feminine.
• In colloquial speech you might occasionally hear other genders, but they’re considered non‑standard or regional.

So for normal usage, treat it as feminine and say:

• die E‑Mail, eine E‑Mail, meine E‑Mail

Why is E‑Mail written with a hyphen and a capital letter?

Two reasons:

1. Hyphen:

   • E‑Mail is short for elektronische Mail (electronic mail).
   • The E stands for electronic; it is separated by a hyphen from Mail, just like E‑Auto, E‑Gitarre, etc.

2. Capital letter:

   • In German, all nouns are capitalized.
   • Mail is a noun, so E‑Mail is written with a capital E.

So the correct spelling is die E‑Mail.

Where can mehrmals go in the sentence? Is Ich lese mehrmals die ausführliche E‑Mail also correct?

Yes, Ich lese mehrmals die ausführliche E‑Mail is grammatically correct, but the most neutral and common order is:

• Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.

General tendencies:

• Time/frequency adverbs often appear after the object, especially if the object is relatively long or detailed:
  • Ich lese die E‑Mail mehrmals.
• If you move mehrmals earlier, the rhythm or emphasis can change slightly:
  • Ich lese mehrmals die ausführliche E‑Mail.
    → a bit more focus on the repetition as an activity

Both are allowed, but the original sentence sounds more natural in everyday speech.

What exactly does mehrmals mean, and how is it different from oft or wieder?

Mehrmals means several times / multiple times. It emphasizes countable repetition, not just general frequency.

Comparison:

• mehrmals = several times, on multiple occasions

  • Ich lese die E‑Mail mehrmals. → I read it more than once (repeatedly).

• oft = often, frequently (habitual)

  • Ich lese oft E‑Mails. → I often read emails (as a habit), not necessarily the same one several times.

• wieder = again (one more time)

  • Ich lese die E‑Mail wieder. → I’m reading the email again (one more time).

So mehrmals focuses on repeated occurrence (more than once) of the same action, without saying exactly how many times.

Could I leave out the article and say Ich lese ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals?

No, that sounds ungrammatical in standard German.

In German, singular countable nouns almost always need some kind of determiner:

• die E‑Mail (the email)
• eine E‑Mail (an email)
• meine E‑Mail (my email)
• diese E‑Mail (this email)

Leaving out the article, as in Ich lese ausführliche E‑Mail, sounds wrong to native speakers (except in a few special contexts like headlines, labels, or fixed expressions, which this is not).

What is the difference between die ausführliche E‑Mail and eine ausführliche E‑Mail?

The difference is definite vs. indefinite:

• die ausführliche E‑Mail

  • Refers to a specific email that both speaker and listener can identify (already known from context).
  • “the detailed email”

• eine ausführliche E‑Mail

  • Refers to one, but not a specific email; it introduces it as new or not yet identified.
  • “a detailed email”

Examples:

• Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.
  → That particular detailed email (we both know which one) I read several times.

• Ich lese eine ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.
  → I read a (some) detailed email several times; you don’t know which one exactly.

Can you drop ich and just say Lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals?

In normal statements, you cannot drop the subject pronoun in German:

• Correct: Ich lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.
• Incorrect as a statement: Lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.

However, Lese die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals! could be understood as an imperative (“Read the detailed email several times!”), but then it’s addressing du and is not a normal declarative sentence anymore.

Unlike Spanish or Italian, German is not a “pro‑drop” language; you normally must say the subject pronoun (ich/du/er …).

How would you say this sentence in the past tense?

The most natural past tense in spoken German is the Perfekt:

• Ich habe die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals gelesen.
  → “I have read / I read the detailed email several times.”

You could also use Präteritum (simple past), which is more common in written language:

• Ich las die ausführliche E‑Mail mehrmals.

Both are correct, but in everyday conversation Germans clearly prefer:

• Ich habe … gelesen.

What is the plural of E‑Mail and how would the sentence change?

The plural is die E‑Mails.

To say I read the detailed emails several times, you would adjust both the noun and the adjective:

• Ich lese die ausführlichen E‑Mails mehrmals.

Changes:

• die E‑Mail → die E‑Mails (plural noun)
• ausführliche → ausführlichen (adjective gets -en with plural definite article die in the accusative)

How do you pronounce lese, ausführliche, and E‑Mail?

Approximate pronunciations (standard German):

• lese → [ˈleː.zə]

  • le like lay (but shorter and purer),
  • se like ze in zebra
    • a schwa.

• ausführliche → [ˈaʊ̯sˌfyːɐ̯lɪçə]

  • aus like ouse in house
  • führ like fyur (long ü, like French tu)
  • lich like likh with a soft German ch (as in ich)
  • the final e is a weak, short ə sound.

• E‑Mail

  • Often [ˈiːmeːl] (like English email, but with clear long i and e),
  • or [ˈeːmɛɪ̯l], depending on region.

All nouns, including E‑Mail, are capitalized in writing, but pronunciation does not change with capitalization.