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Lesson 14.5A1

Shopping & Money

பொருள் வாங்குதல் மற்றும் பணம்

Shopping phrases put your accusative case and numbers lessons to direct use — asking a price, saying how many, and handling money are where classroom grammar turns into a real conversation.

Grammar Comparison

இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு

Was kostet...? keeps the item in the nominative, not the accusative

German

Was kostet das Brot? (What does the bread cost? — das Brot stays nominative, the subject of kosten)

Tamil

இந்த ரொட்டி என்ன விலை? (this bread what price — ரொட்டி also stays in its base/subject form)

It's tempting to put the item you're asking about into the accusative, since you're 'dealing with' it — but kosten treats the item as the grammatical subject doing the costing, not an object being acted on, so it stays nominative in both languages: das Brot and ரொட்டி need no case suffix or article change here. Save the accusative for when you're the one taking an action on the item, as in Ich nehme den Kaffee ('I'll take the coffee') from Food & Ordering.

Vocabulary

சொற்கள்

GermanPronunciationTamilEnglish
Was kostet das?vahs KOS-tet dahsஇதன் விலை என்ன?idhan vilai eṉṉa?What does this cost?
Das kostet zehn Euro.dahs KOS-tet tsayn OY-rohஇது பத்து யூரோ.idhu paththu yūrō.That costs ten euros.
billig / teuerBIL-ikh / TOY-erமலிவு / விலை உயர்ந்ததுmalivu / vilai uyarndhadhucheap / expensive
das Gelddahs geltபணம்paṇammoney
bezahlenbeh-TSAH-lenபணம் செலுத்தpaṇam seluththato pay
die Kassedee KAH-sehகாசாளர் பகுதிkāsāḷar paguthithe checkout / cash register