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Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Ben asks,
"How much does this cost?"
Wie viel kostet das?
Let’s start with das, "this." Das. Das.
You can use this word while pointing at something near you. It’s useful when you want to refer to something you don't know the word for in German.
Next is kostet, "costs," as in “this costs.” Kostet. Kostet.
Kostet is from the verb kosten, “to cost.” kosten.
Last is wie viel, "how much." Wie viel.
First is wie, "how." Wie. Wie.
Next is viel, "much'' in this context. Viel. Viel.
Together it's wie viel, "how much." Wie viel.
All together, it's Wie viel kostet das? This literally translates as, “How much costs this,” but translates as "How much [does] this cost?"
Wie viel kostet das?
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how the shop clerk says,
"This costs two euro."
Das kostet zwei Euro.
Let’s start with zwei Euro, “two euro.” Zwei Euro.
First is zwei, "two." Zwei. Zwei.
Next is Euro, "Euro," the name of the currency. Euro. Euro.
Note the singular and plural form of Euro are the same.
Together it’s zwei Euro, “two euro.” Zwei Euro.
Before this is das kostet, "this costs." Das kostet.
First is das, "this." Das.
Next is kostet, "costs." Kostet.
Together it's das kostet, "this costs." Das kostet.
All together, it's Das kostet zwei Euro. "This costs two euro."
Das kostet zwei Euro.
The pattern is
Wie viel kostet ITEM?
"How much does ITEM cost?"
Wie viel kostet ITEM?
To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you’d like to know the price of.
Note: This pattern requires a noun phrase.
Imagine you’d like to know the price of “a coffee,” ein Kaffee.
Let’s start with Kaffee, “coffee.” Kaffee. Kaffee.
Kaffee is masculine and singular.
Ein is also masculine and singular to agree with Kaffee.
Ein, think of this like "a," or “an,” in English. Ein. Ein.
Ask, “How much [does] a coffee cost?”
Literally, “How much costs a coffee?”
Ready?
Ready?
Wie viel kostet ein Kaffee?
"How much does the coffee cost?"
Wie viel kostet ein Kaffee?
In German, there are two sets of articles. Definite articles are like “the” in English, and indefinite articles are like “a” or “an.”
While the pattern in this lesson works with both kinds of articles, this lesson will focus on indefinite articles like the English “a” or “an.”
When introducing a general item, such as when asking for the price of “a coffee,” use an indefinite article. In German, the indefinite article will depend on the gender of the item.
The indefinite article for singular masculine and neuter nouns is ein, and for singular feminine nouns is eine.
For example:
ein Kaffee, “a coffee,” ein Kaffee;
eine Wassermelone, “a watermelon,“ eine Wassermelone;
ein Brot, "[a] bread," ein Brot.
masculine
feminine
neuter
Indefinite article
ein
eine
ein
Note: indefinite articles are not used with plural nouns. For example,
Erdbeeren, “strawberries.” Erdbeeren.

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