Breakdown of Ich brauche den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Questions & Answers about Ich brauche den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Brauche is the first‑person singular present form of brauchen, which means to need.
So Ich brauche = I need.
Unlike English need, brauchen is always a normal verb in modern German:
- You cannot use it as an auxiliary (I need not go ≠ Ich brauche nicht gehen in the same grammatical way).
- In everyday speech, brauchen with nicht plus an infinitive (Ich brauche nicht zu gehen) does occur, but grammatically it behaves as a full verb, not like English modal need.
Because den is the accusative singular masculine form of the definite article.
In the sentence, Schraubenzieher is the direct object of the verb brauchen (what do I need? the screwdriver), so it must be in the accusative case:
- Nominative (subject): der Schraubenzieher (the screwdriver – as subject)
- Accusative (direct object): den Schraubenzieher (the screwdriver – as object)
Since Ich is the subject and Schraubenzieher is the object, accusative is required, so we use den.
Schraubenzieher is masculine: der Schraubenzieher in the nominative singular.
There is no reliable rule that tells you the gender of this word just by looking at it; you must learn it with its article: der Schraubenzieher. Over time you get a feel for frequent patterns, but for nouns like this the safest way is always to memorize them with der/die/das.
Aus usually means out of / from the inside of something.
Von usually means from in the sense of from someone/something (as a source, owner, or surface).
Here the idea is: I need the screwdriver out of the toolbox (from inside it), so aus is the natural choice:
- aus der Werkzeugkiste = from (out of) the toolbox (it’s located inside it)
- von der Werkzeugkiste would sound odd here; it might fit in a different context, e.g. den Aufkleber von der Werkzeugkiste abmachen (take the sticker off the toolbox – from its surface).
The preposition aus always takes the dative case.
Werkzeugkiste is feminine, and in the dative singular the article and noun look like this:
- Nominative: die Werkzeugkiste (subject)
- Dative: der Werkzeugkiste (after aus)
So aus der Werkzeugkiste = out of the toolbox, with der being the dative feminine singular article.
In the dictionary you’ll see die Werkzeugkiste because that’s the nominative form.
But after aus, you must use the dative case, and the dative singular feminine article for die is der:
- Nominative: die Werkzeugkiste steht da. (The toolbox is standing there.)
- Dative: Ich nehme den Hammer aus der Werkzeugkiste. (I take the hammer out of the toolbox.)
So the change from die to der is purely because of case, not because the gender changed.
Yes. German word order is quite flexible inside the middle field (between the verb and the sentence end). All of these are grammatically correct:
- Ich brauche den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste. (neutral, very natural)
- Ich brauche aus der Werkzeugkiste den Schraubenzieher. (slight emphasis on from the toolbox)
- Aus der Werkzeugkiste brauche ich den Schraubenzieher. (stronger emphasis on from the toolbox, maybe contrasting with other places)
The only hard rule in a simple main clause is: the finite verb (brauche) must be in second position. The order of the other elements can change for emphasis.
Use den Schraubenzieher when you are talking about a specific screwdriver that is already known from context (for example, the only one in the toolbox, or one you mentioned before).
Use einen Schraubenzieher when you mean any screwdriver, not a specific, previously identified one:
- Ich brauche den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
I need the (specific) screwdriver from the toolbox. - Ich brauche einen Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
I need a (some) screwdriver from the toolbox. Any one will do.
Yes, they refer to the same tool: a screwdriver.
- Schraubenzieher is very common in everyday language in many regions.
- Schraubendreher is more technical and is often preferred in manuals, technical fields, or in some regional varieties of German.
Both are understood everywhere in the German‑speaking world.
Both can mean I need, but they differ in register and feel:
- Ich brauche den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Everyday, neutral, most common. - Ich benötige den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
More formal or bureaucratic; sounds a bit stiff in casual speech.
In normal spoken German, brauchen is by far the more natural choice.
German normally writes compound nouns as one long word.
Each is made of two parts:
- Schraubenzieher = Schraube (screw) + Zieher (puller), literally “screw‑puller”
- Werkzeugkiste = Werkzeug (tool) + Kiste (box), “tool box”
In English you often write compounds as two words (tool box, coffee cup) or with a hyphen; in German they are almost always joined into a single word. The last part of the compound determines the gender and plural (for Werkzeugkiste, Kiste is feminine, so the whole word is feminine).
A rough English‑based guide (not perfect, but close):
Schraubenzieher:
- Sch like sh in ship
- rau like row in brown (but with German r at the start)
- ben like ben in Ben (unstressed)
- zieh like tsee (ts + long ee)
- er like a weak uh with a soft r at the end
Approximation: [SHROW-ben-tsee-uh]
Werkzeugkiste:
- Wer like vair (with German v/w sound)
- k like English k
- zeug like tsoik (ts + “oy” + k)
- kis like kiss without the second s
- te like teh (short e)
Approximation: [VAIRK-tsoik-kis-teh].
In standard, complete sentences, you should keep the subject:
- Ich brauche den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Leaving out Ich (Brauche den Schraubenzieher …) is possible in notes, lists, text messages, or very informal speech, where people often drop pronouns because the context is clear. Grammatically, though, it’s an incomplete sentence; in normal spoken and written German you would include Ich.
Werkzeugkiste is feminine. Singular forms:
- Nominative: die Werkzeugkiste
- Die Werkzeugkiste ist schwer. (The toolbox is heavy.)
- Accusative: die Werkzeugkiste
- Ich trage die Werkzeugkiste. (I carry the toolbox.)
- Dative: der Werkzeugkiste
- Ich nehme den Schraubenzieher aus der Werkzeugkiste.
- Genitive: der Werkzeugkiste
- Der Deckel der Werkzeugkiste ist kaputt. (The lid of the toolbox is broken.)
Plural (toolboxes): die Werkzeugkisten (Nom./Acc.), den Werkzeugkisten (Dat.), der Werkzeugkisten (Gen.).
Yes, that is possible, but the nuance and style change a bit:
- … aus der Werkzeugkiste
Compact compound noun; very typical German; means the toolbox, a box intended for tools. - … aus der Kiste mit dem Werkzeug
Literally: “from the box with the tools” – describes a box that happens to have tools in it, but doesn’t necessarily present it as an established “toolbox”.
Both are understandable, but Werkzeugkiste is more idiomatic when you mean a proper toolbox.