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Prepositions nach mit in seit bei hinter von zu aus auf für vor

Prepositions are little but powerful words like to, with, from, at, in, near, on etc. that have a big impact on whatever follows them in German. They tell you about direction, position, location, and so forth. Here we are going to look at the preposition ‘für’ (for)

Have a look at the following 2 sentences Subject Verb Prep Adj. Object Mein Computer ist neu Ich spare für einen neuen Computer

In sentence 1‘my computer’ is the SUBJECT (Nominative) of the sentenceIn sentence 2 ‘I’ is the SUBJECT and ‘a computer’ is the OBJECT (Accusative) of the sentence (M)einComputer (Subject=Nominative)BECOMES‘ ’ (after für=Accusative) füreinenneuenComputer

Have you noticed…? • There has been a change to the article ‘ein’ and the adjective ‘neu’ in sentence 2. Both have an ending which is ‘en’. • The adjective has an ending because it appears in front of a masculine noun(here: in front of an object) and is not on its own.

Have a look at the following 2 sentences Subject Verb Prep Adj. Object Meine Handtasche ist neu Ich spare für eine neue Handtasche

In sentence 1‘my handbag’ is the SUBJECT (Nominative) of the sentenceIn sentence 2 ‘I’ is the SUBJECT and ‘a handbag’ is the OBJECT (Accusative) of the sentence (M)eineHandtasche (Subject=Nominative)BECOMES‘ ’ (after für=Accusative) füreineneue Handtasche

Have you noticed…? • There is no change to the article ‘eine’ but there has been a change to the adjective ‘neu’ – In sentence 2 it has an ending which is ‘e’. • This is because the adjective appears in front of a feminine noun(here: in front of an object) and is not on its own.

Have a look at the following 2 sentences Subject Verb Prep Adj. Object Mein Handy ist neu Ich spare für ein neues Handy

In sentence 1‘my handy’ is the SUBJECT (Nominative) of the sentenceIn sentence 2 ‘I’ is the SUBJECT and ‘a handy’ is the OBJECT (Accusative) of the sentence (M)ein Handy(Subject=Nominative)BECOMES‘ ’ (after für=Accusative) füreinneuesHandy

Have you noticed…? • There is no change to the article ‘ein’ but there has been a change to the adjective ‘neu’ – In sentence 2 it has an ending which is ‘es’. • This is because the adjective appears in front of a neuter noun(here: in front of an object) and is not on its own.

Have a look at the following 2 sentences Subject Verb Prep Adj. Object Meine CDs sind neu Ich spare für neue CDs

In sentence 1‘my CDs’ are the SUBJECT (Nominative) of the sentenceIn sentence 2 ‘I’ is the SUBJECT and ‘CDs’ are the OBJECT (Accusative) of the sentence. (Subject=Nominative)BECOMES‘ ’ (after für=Accusative) (M)eineCDs für ---neueCDs

Have you noticed…? • There is no article at all in front of a PLURAL noun unless you are saying ‘my’ which would be ‘meine’. There has been a change to the adjective ‘neu’ – In sentence 2 it has an ending which is ‘e’. • This is because the adjective appears in front of the PLURAL NOUN(here: in front of an object) and is not on its own.

Have you noticed……..? ....these funny words ‘Nominative’ and ‘Accusative’ that keep cropping up?

What does that all mean?Subject (Nominative) and Object (Accusative)? • Nominative and Accusative are cases (nothing to do with luggage here!) • Cases show you the task of a noun or pronoun like, e.g. ‘Ich’ in a sentence. • The function of ‘Ich’ in the sentence ‘Ich spare für eine Handtasche’ is that it describes the SUBJECT (the part of the sentence that is doing the action – here: the saving). ‘Ich’ is in the NOMINATIVE case. • After the preposition ‘für’ you always need theACCUSATIVE case which is for the OBJECT of the sentence. • Clear as mud? Don’t worry – this takes practice!

The Subject(Nominative) after ‘für’(Accusative)

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