Learn Hardcore German: Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination speichere ich den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort. - With a simple keyboard shortcut I quickly save the text in the right storage location.

German main clauses follow the verb‑second rule: the conjugated verb must be in second position, but the first position can be almost anything (subject, time phrase, place phrase, prepositional phrase, etc.).

Neutral word order: Ich speichere den Text …
– Subject (ich) is first, verb (speichere) is second.
In this sentence, the speaker wants to emphasize the means (“with a simple key combination”), so that prepositional phrase is moved to the first position:
Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination (1st position) speichere (2nd) ich …

If you start with something other than the subject in first position, the subject usually comes after the verb:

✅ Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination speichere ich den Text …
❌ Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination ich speichere den Text … (breaks verb‑second rule)

Why is it “Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination” and not “mit eine einfache Tastenkombination”?

The preposition mit always takes the dative case.

Noun: die Tastenkombination (feminine, singular)
Indefinite article in dative feminine: einer (not eine)
Adjective ending in dative feminine with an indefinite article: -en → einfachen

So you get:

mit
- einer (dative feminine) + einfachen (dative feminine ending) + Tastenkombination
  → mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination

Forms for comparison (feminine, singular):

Nominative: eine einfache Tastenkombination
Accusative: eine einfache Tastenkombination
Dative: einer einfachen Tastenkombination

What gender and case does “Tastenkombination” have here?

Gender: feminine – die Tastenkombination
Case: dative singular – because of the preposition mit

The article and adjective endings show this clearly:

einer → dative feminine singular of eine
einfachen → dative feminine singular adjective ending

So „mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination“ = “with a simple key combination” in the dative.

Why is it “speichere ich” and not “ich speichere” after the first phrase?

Because in a German main clause:

Exactly one element (here: Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination) is in the first position (Vorfeld).
The conjugated verb must be second.
The subject follows if it’s not in first position.

So the structure is:

Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination (1st slot)
speichere (conjugated verb – must be 2nd)
ich den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort (rest of the sentence)

You could say:
Ich speichere den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination.
Here ich takes first position, so speichere directly follows it: ich speichere.

Why is it “den Text” and not “der Text”?

Text is masculine: der Text.
In this sentence, Text is the direct object, so it must be in the accusative.

Masculine singular article:

Nominative: der Text (subject)
Accusative: den Text (direct object)

Since “I save the text” → “the text” is what I save → direct object → accusative → den Text.

Could I say “Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination ich speichere den Text …”?

No, that word order is incorrect in standard German.

The rule: in a main clause, the conjugated verb must be in 2nd position.

❌ Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination ich speichere …
→ The verb is in 3rd position (after Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination and ich).
✅ Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination speichere ich den Text …
→ Verb (speichere) is 2nd; subject (ich) comes after it.

Why is “schnell” placed after “den Text”? Can I move it?

In the given sentence, the “middle field” (between verb and sentence end) is:

ich den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort

The order subject – direct object – adverb – place phrase is very natural:

den Text (direct object)
schnell (manner: how?)
am richtigen Speicherort (place: where?)

Other orders are also grammatically possible, with slight changes in emphasis:

✅ Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination speichere ich *schnell den Text am richtigen Speicherort.
→ Slight focus on *quickly saving the text.
✅ Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination speichere ich den Text *am richtigen Speicherort schnell.
→ Sounds a bit less natural; emphasizes that *at that location the saving is quick.

The original “… den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort” is neutral and idiomatic.

What exactly is happening in “am richtigen Speicherort”?

am is a contraction of an dem:

an = “at” / “on”
dem = dative masculine singular article (for der Speicherort)

So:

an dem richtigen Speicherort → am richtigen Speicherort

Grammar details:

Noun: der Speicherort (masculine)
Case: dative (location with an → “at the right storage location”)
Article: dem → contracted to am
Adjective: richtig → dative masculine singular ending -en → richtigen

So “am richtigen Speicherort” = “at the correct storage location” (not “into”, just located at).

Why is it “am richtigen Speicherort” and not “im richtigen Speicherort”?

Both an and in can translate as “at/in”, but they’re used differently:

an (here: am) with Ort gives the idea of “at a place/location” in a more abstract sense:
- am richtigen Speicherort ≈ “at the correct save location”
in (→ im) is more inside something:
- im richtigen Ordner = “in the correct folder”
- im richtigen Verzeichnis = “in the correct directory”

For an abstract “storage location” (e.g., file path, save location setting), Germans often say an einem Speicherort / am Speicherort.
For concrete containers or structures (folder, directory, drive), in is more common.

So “am richtigen Speicherort” is idiomatic for “at the right location where the file is stored” in a computing context.

How is the word “Speicherort” formed, and what does it mean exactly?

Speicherort is a compound noun:

der Speicher = storage, memory (in IT: RAM, data storage)
der Ort = place, location

→ der Speicherort = literally “storage place/location”, usually “save location” or “storage location” in IT.

Typical use:

den Speicherort auswählen = choose the save location
den Speicherort ändern = change the save location

Related but different:

Speicherplatz = storage space (capacity)
Ordner / Verzeichnis = folder / directory

Why is the adjective ending “richtigen” (with -en) and not something like “richtiger”?

Because of the case, gender, and article:

Noun: der Speicherort (masculine)
Preposition an (here contracted to am) + static location → dative
Article in dative masculine: dem → contracted to am
Adjective after a definite article in dative masculine gets -en

Pattern: definite article + adjective + masculine noun, dative singular:

an dem richtigen Speicherort
mit dem neuen Computer
bei dem netten Kollegen

All have adjective ending -en:

richtigen, neuen, netten.

So „am richtigen Speicherort“ is the only correct form here.

Why do we use “speichern” (speichere) and not some other verb like “sparen” or “aufbewahren”?

In computer/IT contexts, German uses speichern for “to save data”:

eine Datei speichern = to save a file
den Text speichern = to save the text

Other verbs mean something else:

sparen = to save (money, resources)
– Geld sparen, Zeit sparen
aufbewahren = to keep/store physically (objects)
– Dokumente aufbewahren
behalten = to keep (not give away/lose)
– die Datei behalten

So speichern is the correct technical verb: ich speichere den Text = “I save the text (on a computer).”

Could this sentence also be in a past tense, and how would that look?

Yes, very naturally in the Perfekt (spoken past):

Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination habe ich den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort gespeichert.
→ “With a simple key combination, I quickly saved the text at the right storage location.”

Structure:

Fronted phrase: Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination
Auxiliary verb (conjugated, 2nd position): habe
Subject: ich
Rest: den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort
Past participle at the end: gespeichert

You could also use Präteritum in writing:

Mit einer einfachen Tastenkombination speicherte ich den Text schnell am richtigen Speicherort.

But for everyday spoken German about past events, Perfekt (habe … gespeichert) is more common.