Breakdown of Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Questions & Answers about Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Holen means “to go and get something and bring it (back) to where you are or to some goal.” It usually includes the idea of:
- going away from the current place,
- picking something up,
- coming back with it.
Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
→ “I’ll go (over there), get the pliers out of the toolbox, and bring them (here).”
Contrast:
bringen = “to bring (something to someone/somewhere)”
- Focus on moving something towards someone or a place.
- Ich bringe die Zange. – “I’ll bring the pliers (to you / to that place).”
nehmen = “to take” (to pick up, take hold of, take with you)
- Focus on the act of taking or taking possession.
- Ich nehme die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste. – “I take the pliers out of the toolbox.”
- No built‑in idea of “go there, get, and come back”; it’s about the act of taking.
So holen always implies a kind of “fetching,” which English usually expresses with get or fetch, not just take or bring.
Every German noun has a grammatical gender:
- der = masculine
- die = feminine
- das = neuter
The noun Zange (pliers, pair of tongs) is grammatically feminine, so its article in the basic dictionary form (nominative singular) is:
- die Zange
In the sentence Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.:
- die Zange is the direct object (accusative case), but for feminine singular nouns, the article is also die in accusative:
Feminine singular:
- Nominative: die Zange
- Accusative: die Zange
So you see die in both roles, which can be confusing. But it’s feminine, not masculine or neuter, and here it’s in the accusative case as the thing being fetched.
In the sentence:
- Ich = subject (who is doing the action) → nominative case
- die Zange = direct object (what is being fetched) → accusative case
So die Zange is accusative here.
For feminine singular nouns, the article die is the same in nominative and accusative:
- Nominative: die Zange ist neu. – “The pliers are new.”
- Accusative: Ich hole die Zange. – “I get the pliers.”
That’s why die doesn’t change here, even though the grammatical role changes from subject to object.
The preposition aus (“out of, from inside”) always takes the dative case in standard German.
Werkzeugkiste is feminine. The dative singular article for feminine nouns is der, not die:
Feminine singular articles:
- Nominative: die
- Accusative: die
- Dative: der
- Genitive: der
So:
- aus + der Werkzeugkiste (dative)
→ “out of / from the toolbox”
That’s why you must say aus der Werkzeugkiste, not aus die Werkzeugkiste.
aus and von can both translate to “from,” but they’re used differently:
aus = “from the inside of something; out of”
- Emphasizes movement out of an interior.
- Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
→ You take the pliers out of the inside of the toolbox.
von = “from (a surface, a person, an origin)”
- Often used with people (from someone) or surfaces / origins.
- Ich bekomme die Zange von dir. – “I get the pliers from you.”
- Ich nehme das Buch vom Tisch. – “I take the book from the table (surface).”
Since the pliers are inside the toolbox, aus is the natural choice.
Hole is the present tense (Präsens) form of holen for ich:
- ich hole – I get / I fetch
- du holst – you get (singular, informal)
- er/sie/es holt – he/she/it gets
- wir holen – we get
- ihr holt – you get (plural, informal)
- sie holen / Sie holen – they get / you get (formal)
German present tense is used both for “I get” and for “I am getting” in English. Context tells you which English translation fits best.
Yes, Ich nehme die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste is grammatically correct.
Difference in nuance:
- holen focuses on the whole fetching action – going there, picking it up, bringing it (back).
- nehmen focuses more on the act of taking the object.
So:
Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
→ “I’ll go (to the toolbox) and get the pliers (and bring them).”Ich nehme die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
→ “I (simply) take the pliers out of the toolbox.”
(You’re already there or just emphasizing the act of taking.)
In many everyday contexts, either could work, but holen fits especially well when you’re fetching something for someone or from another place.
English treats pliers as a plural-only noun (like scissors), even though it’s one tool.
German treats the same object as a singular noun:
- die Zange = “the pair of pliers / the pliers” (one tool)
- die Zangen = “pliers” (several pairs)
So:
- Ich hole die Zange.
→ “I (will) get the pliers.” (one tool)
If you had multiple pairs:
- Ich hole die Zangen aus der Werkzeugkiste.
→ “I (will) get the pliers (several pairs) out of the toolbox.”
German forms compound nouns by joining words together into a single word.
- Werkzeug = tool, tools
- Kiste = box, crate
Combined:
- die Werkzeugkiste = “tool box” → a box for tools.
Writing it as one word is standard in German spelling for noun compounds:
- Werkzeugkasten (another common word for toolbox)
- Handschuhfach (glove compartment; literally “hand-shoe-compartment”)
- Kaffeemaschine (coffee machine)
So Werkzeugkiste is a typical German compound noun, not two separate words.
Both are grammatically correct, but they differ in what sounds more natural and what is being emphasized.
Neutral, most natural order:
- Ich hole die Zange aus der Werkzeugkiste.
Standard pattern for a simple main clause is:
- Subject: Ich
- Finite verb (conjugated verb): hole
- Direct object: die Zange
- Other information (place, time, etc.): aus der Werkzeugkiste
You can say:
- Ich hole aus der Werkzeugkiste die Zange.
This is possible, but it sounds a bit marked or stylistic, and it may put extra emphasis on aus der Werkzeugkiste, as if contrasting where you’re getting it from.
In everyday speech, the original sentence is the preferred “neutral” version.
Yes. Both are normal, but there is a difference in the noun:
- die Werkzeugkiste (feminine) = toolbox, tool box (often more like a box or chest)
- der Werkzeugkasten (masculine) = toolbox, tool kit (often like a box, case, or tray)
So:
- aus der Werkzeugkiste
- aus dem Werkzeugkasten
Both mean “out of the toolbox.” You just have to adjust the article because the gender is different:
- Feminine dative: aus der Kiste
- Masculine dative: aus dem Kasten
In German, only nouns are capitalized in the middle of a sentence (and words derived from nouns in some fixed cases). Pronouns like ich are normally lowercase.
Ich is capitalized at the beginning of the sentence only because all sentences start with a capital letter in German, just like in English.
So:
- Start of the sentence: Ich hole die Zange …
- In the middle: Heute hole ich die Zange …
Approximate pronunciation (standard German):
ich → [ɪç]
- i like in English bit
- ch is a soft sound, like the “h” in Scottish loch but softer and more fronted.
Zange → ['tsaŋə]
- Z = “ts” sound (like ts in cats)
- a as in father (short)
- ng like English singer (not finger)
- final e is a weak -uh sound.
Werkzeugkiste → ['vɛʁk.tsɔʏk.'kɪstə] (rough guide)
- W = like English v
- er in Werk ~ “airk”
- zeug with eu/äu sound [ɔʏ], like English oy in boy but with lips more rounded
- kis ~ “kiss”
- final te with a weak -tuh.
Stress pattern: WERKzeugKISte (main stress usually on Werk, and a secondary stress on Kis).
Yes, both Zange and Werkzeugkiste are feminine.
The difference comes from the case:
- die Zange is accusative (direct object) → feminine accusative singular = die
- der Werkzeugkiste is dative (object of aus) → feminine dative singular = der
Feminine singular article forms:
- Nominative: die Frau / die Zange
- Accusative: die Frau / die Zange
- Dative: der Frau / der Werkzeugkiste
- Genitive: der Frau / der Zange
So the change from die to der is not about gender, but about the case required by the verb or preposition.