Seit ein paar Stunden

[bootheryan]

Hello. Another declension question for you wonderful people out there im deutschen Sprachraum. In Intermediate Lesson S2 #31 - Sometime, Somewhere in Germany, This Could Happen to You! there are yet again a few declensions that I just don't understand. They are:

1. Ich habe seit ein paar Stunden extreme Bauchschmerzen. I thought that seit triggered a dative ending. Why is ein not einem?

2. Was für ein Schmerz ist es? My dictionary says that Schmerz is a masculine noun. Why isn't it written as Was für einen Schmerz?

3. Haben Sie irgendwelche anderen Symptome bemerkt? Why is it anderen and not andere?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Sprachprofi]

1. Bauchschmerzen is plural so it wouldn't figure anyway. "Ein paar" is an expression that doesn't change.

2. This is Nominative, "einen" would be Accusative". "Schmerz" is the subject of the phrase.

3. -en is the bland ending for Accusative plural. The key ending -e was already used up in "irgendwelche".

[bootheryan]

I'm glad that I asked. All I recall learning is that after für comes the accusative. Is Was für another fixed phrase that doesn't follow the rules?

[Sprachprofi]

"Was für ein" means "what kind of". It's a set expression, indeed.

The case depends on the role that the whole phrase (e. g. "was für ein Mann") will play in the sentence.

Was für ein Mann tut so etwas? = What kind of man would do such a thing? (subject, Nominative)
Was für einen Mann suchst du? = What kind of man are you looking for? (direct object, Accusative)
Was für einem Mann gibst du das? = To what kind of man are you giving that? (indirect object, Dative)
Mit was für einem Mann gehst du aus? = With what kind of man are you going out? (Dative after preposition)

[bootheryan]

Thanks again for the clarification, especially for the examples at the end.