Ich lege den Elternbrief auf den Küchentisch.

I put the parent letter on the kitchen table.

Breakdown of Ich lege den Elternbrief auf den Küchentisch.

• ich: I
• auf: on
• legen: to put
• den: the; (masculine, accusative)

Questions & Answers about Ich lege den Elternbrief auf den Küchentisch.

Why is it den Elternbrief and not der Elternbrief?

Because Elternbrief is the direct object of the verb legen, it has to be in the accusative case.

• Elternbrief is masculine (more on that below).

• The definite article for a masculine noun changes like this:

  • Nominative (subject): der Elternbrief
  • Accusative (direct object): den Elternbrief

In this sentence:

• Ich = subject (nominative)
• lege = verb
• den Elternbrief = direct object (accusative)

So den is required here, not der.

How do I know that Elternbrief is masculine?

The noun Elternbrief is a compound noun: Eltern (parents) + Brief (letter).

In German compounds, the last part decides:

• the basic meaning
• the gender
• the plural form

Here, the last part is Brief, which is:

• der Brief (masculine)
• plural: die Briefe

So the compound becomes:

• der Elternbrief (masculine)
• plural: die Elternbriefe

That’s why you get den Elternbrief in the accusative.

Why is it auf den Küchentisch and not auf dem Küchentisch?