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Lesson 14.5A1

Shopping & Money

వస్తువులు కొనడం మరియు డబ్బు

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, and Telugu's own case-marking instincts carry over cleanly.

Grammar Comparison

వ్యాకరణ పోలిక

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)

Telugu

ఈ రొట్టె ఖరీదు ఎంత? (this bread price how-much — రొట్టె stays in its base form, with no -ని accusative suffix)

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 రొట్టె need no case suffix here, exactly as Telugu leaves an unmarked noun when it's the subject rather than the object. Save the accusative -ని/-ను suffix 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

పదజాలం

Was kostet das?vahs KOS-tet dahs
Telugu
దీని ఖరీదు ఎంత?deeni kharidu entha?
English
What does this cost?
Das kostet zehn Euro.dahs KOS-tet tsayn OY-roh
Telugu
ఇది పది యూరోలు.idi padi yoorolu.
English
That costs ten euros.
billig / teuerBIL-ikh / TOY-er
Telugu
చవక / ఖరీదైనదిchavaka / kharidainadi
English
cheap / expensive
das Gelddahs gelt
Telugu
డబ్బుdabbu
English
money
bezahlenbeh-TSAH-len
Telugu
డబ్బు చెల్లించడంdabbu chellinchadam
English
to pay
die Kassedee KAH-seh
Telugu
నగదు కౌంటర్nagadu kaunter
English
the checkout / cash register