Word
Der Biomüll kommt in die braune Tonne, und der Restmüll in die schwarze.
Meaning
Organic waste goes into the brown bin, and residual waste into the black one.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Der Biomüll kommt in die braune Tonne, und der Restmüll in die schwarze.
und
and
kommen
to come
in
into
die Tonne
the bin
Questions & Answers about Der Biomüll kommt in die braune Tonne, und der Restmüll in die schwarze.
Why is it in die braune Tonne and not in der braunen Tonne?
Because in can take either accusative or dative depending on meaning:
- in + accusative = movement/direction into something → Der Biomüll kommt in die braune Tonne.
- in + dative = location in/inside something → Der Biomüll ist in der braunen Tonne. (It’s already in there.)
What case is die braune Tonne in, and why?
It’s accusative (feminine singular), triggered by in with a “direction into” meaning.
So you get:
- die (accusative = same form as nominative for feminine singular)
- adjective ending -e after die → braune
Why do the adjectives look like braune and schwarze (and not something else)?
After a definite article (der/die/das), German typically uses the weak adjective ending.
Here it’s feminine singular accusative with die, so the adjective takes -e:
- die braune Tonne
- die schwarze (Tonne)