Headword
Language German · purchase · einkaufen, abkaufen, and erwerben only where a dictionary prints them
Buyer, Goods, Source, Price · plus a dative beneficiary · German cloth · working claim, revisable
Voice[Buyer] + complement of the root (GoodsACC) + Source, where a line prints one (von+dative, or bei+dative) + für-MeasurePPrice + a dative beneficiary that is not that Source
abkaufen · the same Goods and the same für-Price, where a line prints the Price · the Seller is a bare dative · Duden’s definition is von jemandem kaufen
A purchase, on this reading, has a Buyer, the Goods, a Source or Seller when a line fills one, and a Price when a line fills one. They are not four equal sisters of kaufen. Voice adds the Buyer. The root’s complement is the Goods, accusative. für selects the Price, one phrase. A further dative on kaufen is the person the goods are bought for. That dative is not the seller. On abkaufen the bare dative is the seller. The drawing is working and revisable. It is not a settled analysis, and it is not a claim about telicity.
What is different from the English gloss. Cambridge prints buy with [+ two objects] in He bought his mother some flowers, and the same line offers He bought some flowers for his mother. The seller in the articles opened is from: I bought my camera from a friend of mine. German prints the beneficiary of kaufen as a bare dative, Duden’s sich, jemandem etwas kaufen and English Wiktionary’s Ich kaufe meinem Sohn einen Computer. The für the commercial lines print is the price, the WDG’s für zehn Mark and für drei Mark kann ich mir das nicht. A für+accusative of a person, the twin of English for his mother, is unprinted on the entries opened here. The seller of abkaufen is a bare dative, jemandem ein altes Radio abkaufen. English from is not that dative.
No line opened here stacks a von-seller, a dative beneficiary, the goods, and a für-price in one clause of kaufen. The pieces are printed apart. The WDG’s für drei Mark kann ich mir das nicht k. puts the price and a dative beneficiary in one clause. The goods there are das. DWDS’s corpus line of abkaufen puts a dative seller and für 6000 Mark in one clause. German Wiktionary’s vom Gebrauchtwagenhändler is a von-seller, with no price and no beneficiary in that sentence.
Printed kaufen · dative beneficiary · für-Price · accusative Goods
✓ für drei Mark kann ich mir das nicht k. DWDS · WDG text · kaufen · k. is the entry’s abbreviation
for three marks I cannot buy that for myself
Printed abkaufen · dative Seller · für-Price
✓ Wenig später wollte die Bahn sie ihm für 6000 Mark abkaufen. DWDS usage · Die Zeit, 31.01.2011
a little later the railway wanted to buy it from him for 6000 marks
| Place | Introduced by (working) | German marking | Case status | English marking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer | Spec,Voice | subject of kaufen and of abkaufen | structural subject · a werden line of the goods has no overt buyer | subject of buy |
| Goods | complement of the root | accusative (ein Auto, das Buch, einen Computer, ein altes Radio) | structural accusative · the object werden promotes in Duden’s diese Marke wird … gekauft | object of buy · second object of Cambridge’s [+ two objects] |
| Beneficiary | added dative on kaufen · revisable · not the seller | dative (jemandem, mir, meinem Sohn, sich) | Duden prints sich, jemandem etwas kaufen · the comma is Duden’s · English Wiktionary labels the other-person line ditransitive · a second accusative of that person is unprinted | first object of [+ two objects] (his mother) · or for + person |
| Source / Seller | PP, or, on abkaufen, a bare dative · revisable | von+dative where printed (vom Gebrauchtwagenhändler) · bei+dative (beim Fleischer, bei Kaufmann B) · bare dative on abkaufen (jemandem, ihr, ihm, der Treuhand) | Duden’s definition of abkaufen is von jemandem kaufen · the examples of that verb are the bare dative, not a filled von · Duden’s von dem Geld on kaufen is the money, not a person · an editorial etwas von jemandem kaufen is unprinted in the Duden and WDG lines of kaufen | from + person (from a friend of mine) |
| Price | für selects one phrase · working MeasureP | für + accusative (für zehn Mark, für drei Mark, für viel, teures Geld, für billiges Geld, für 6000 Mark, für 900000 Mark) | oblique · the sum and the unit stay inside that phrase · a für+accusative of a person is unprinted on these entries | Cambridge’s commercial lines opened here do not print a numeral for · the for they print is the beneficiary |
Marking map. One letter can belong to several heads. Read the lemma, then the marker.
Each row lines up one English slot with a German slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (a bare English object ↔ a German dative, or from / for ↔ the German marker the line prints). Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.
| Slot | EN form | DE form | Align | EN example | DE example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer | SUBJ of buy | subject | = | I bought my camera from a friend of mine Cambridge | das Buch habe ich für zehn Mark gekauft WDG |
| Goods | OBJ of buy | accusative | = | buy a small car Cambridge | Sie kauft ein Auto English Wiktionary · ein Auto, ein Haus, Lebensmittel Duden |
| Beneficiary | first object of [+ two objects] | dative on kaufen | shift · bare object → dative | He bought his mother some flowers Cambridge · [+ two objects] | Ich kaufe meinem Sohn einen Computer English Wiktionary · gloss I'm buying my son a computer · jemandem etwas kaufen Duden |
| Beneficiary as for | for + person | für + person | the English alternate is printed · the German person-für is unprinted | He bought some flowers for his mother Cambridge · the slash-mate of the double object | — unprinted on the Duden, WDG, and Wiktionary lines opened here · not constructed |
| Price | unprinted as a numeral for in the Cambridge lines opened | für + sum | the German price is printed · it is not the beneficiary | — | für zehn Mark WDG · für viel, teures Geld Duden · für drei Mark … mir WDG · price beside the dative |
| Seller | from + person | bare dative on abkaufen · von+dative where kaufen prints it | shift · from ↔ dative on abkaufen · from ↔ von in the Wiktionary line | I bought my camera from a friend of mine Cambridge | jemandem ein altes Radio abkaufen Duden · definition von jemandem kaufen · vom Gebrauchtwagenhändler German Wiktionary |
| Seller and Price | from plus a price | dative seller plus für | the German stack is printed on abkaufen · the English stack is unprinted in the lines opened | buy it from him for 6000 marks constructed gloss of the DWDS line | sie ihm für 6000 Mark abkaufen DWDS · Die Zeit, 31.01.2011 |
| Passive of the goods | the goods as subject | werden · goods as subject | = promotion of the accusative | The company was set up to buy and sell shares Cambridge · active · a goods-passive of buy is unprinted in the lines opened | diese Marke wird viel, gern gekauft Duden |
The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and German under it. The dative chip is the one that changes role: beneficiary on kaufen, seller on abkaufen. The price card stays inside für.
EN · DE · printed dative beneficiary
I'm buying my son a computer.
Ich kaufe meinem Sohn einen Computer.
DE · English Wiktionary · the gloss is the entry’s · double object
Shift bare my son → dative · not a seller
EN · DE · printed für beside the dative
For three marks I cannot buy that for myself.
für drei Mark kann ich mir das nicht k.
DE · WDG · EN gloss constructed from that line
= für is the price · the dative is not inside it
EN · DE · printed dative seller
The railway wanted to buy it from him for 6000 marks.
wollte die Bahn sie ihm für 6000 Mark abkaufen
DE · DWDS · Die Zeit, 31.01.2011 · EN gloss constructed
Move English from → bare dative · the same case as the beneficiary of kaufen
EN · DE · for a person
He bought some flowers for his mother.
—
EN · Cambridge · the for-mate of [+ two objects] · a German für+person is unprinted
Move English for+person has no printed German twin · the printed German beneficiary is dative · the printed German für is the price
Argument difference. English can package the beneficiary and the goods as two bare objects, He bought his mother some flowers, or put that person in for. German prints one accusative, the goods, and prints the beneficiary of kaufen as a dative. English puts the seller in from. German abkaufen puts that seller in a bare dative, and Duden defines the verb as von jemandem kaufen. The dative is therefore not one role. On kaufen it is the beneficiary. On abkaufen it is the seller. The converse verkaufen puts the seller in the subject and the buyer in a dative or in an+accusative. That buyer-dative is not the beneficiary-dative of kaufen.
Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed
etwas gegen Bezahlung erwerben · etwas billig, günstig, zu teuer kaufen · ein Auto, ein Haus, Lebensmittel kaufen · sich, jemandem etwas kaufen · etwas für viel, teures Geld kaufen · ich habe den Senf beim Fleischer gekauft · sie hat sich mit dem Geld, von dem Geld eine CD gekauft · diese Marke wird viel, gern gekauft Duden online · sense 1a · von dem Geld is the money, beside mit dem Geld · grammar kauft, kaufte, hat gekauft
im Supermarkt, nur im Fachgeschäft kaufen Duden · sense 1b · the sense is labeled einkaufen · no dative and no price
einen Beamten kaufen · die Zeugen waren gekauft Duden · sense 2 · umgangssprachlich · bribe · the person is accusative · off the purchase frame
Butter, Brot, Wurst k. · sich /Dat./ einen Anzug k. · das Buch habe ich für zehn Mark gekauft · für drei Mark kann ich mir das nicht k. · für billiges Geld · für teures Geld · wir k. nur im Konsum, bei Kaufmann B DWDS · WDG text · /Dat./ is the entry’s label on sich · k. abbreviates the verb
Sie kauft ein Auto. · Ich kaufe meinem Sohn einen Computer. · Ich kaufe mir ein Eis. English Wiktionary · kaufen · the other-person line is labeled ditransitive · the glosses are She is buying a car, I'm buying my son a computer, I'm buying (myself) some ice cream
Pjotr Ekhahn kaufte einen grünen Ford vom Gebrauchtwagenhändler Hompka mit der Maßgabe, dass die Übereignung desselben nach Zahlung des vollständigen Kaufpreises am darauffolgenden Montag erfolgen sollte. German Wiktionary · sense [2] · vom is von+dative of the dealer · the price is named inside Zahlung des vollständigen Kaufpreises, not as für + a sum
von jemandem kaufen · jemandem ein altes Radio abkaufen · er kaufte ihr einen Blumenstrauß ab · 〈in übertragener Bedeutung:〉 was du da sagst, kauft dir keiner ab Duden online · abkaufen · the definition is the von paraphrase · the examples are the bare dative · the believe line is labeled umgangssprachlich and glossed glaubt dir niemand · separable kauft ab, kaufte ab, hat abgekauft
jmdm. ein Haus, Auto abkaufen · niemand wird uns diese Behauptung abkaufen DWDS · abkaufen · the believe line is labeled übertragen, salopp and glossed glauben
✓ Wenig später wollte die Bahn sie ihm für 6000 Mark abkaufen. DWDS usage · Die Zeit, 31.01.2011 · dative seller · für-price
✓ Das Unternehmen, das ich der Treuhand für 900000 Mark abgekauft habe, gehört mir bis heute nicht. DWDS usage · Der Spiegel, 06.04.1998 · dative der Treuhand · für 900000 Mark
Diese Geschichte kaufe ich dir nicht ab. German Wiktionary · sense [2] · übertragen, umgangssprachlich · jemandem etwas glauben
Tut mir leid, aber das kaufe ich dir nicht ab. English Wiktionary · abkaufen · colloquial, figurative · the gloss is I'm sorry, but I don't buy it · the spelling is kaufe, not a clipped kauf
ein paar Lebensmittel einkaufen · das Material wurde en gros eingekauft · sich in eine Firma einkaufen Duden · einkaufen · separable kauft ein, kaufte ein, hat eingekauft · no dative beneficiary and no für-sum in these lines
Ich will mal schnell in unserem Laden ein paar Sachen fürs Wochenende einkaufen. German Wiktionary · fürs Wochenende is not a person and not a price
ein Grundstück käuflich erwerben · die [Aufführungs]rechte für ein neues Theaterstück erwerben · das Museum hat drei wertvolle Gemälde erworben · damit kannst du [dir] keine Reichtümer erwerben Duden · erwerben · the purchase examples are sense 2a · the bracketed [dir] is sense 1a, the work sense · strong erwirbt, erwarb, hat erworben · no von-seller
die Verlagsrechte für ein Buch erwerben · ein wertvolles Bild käuflich erwerben DWDS · sense 1b · für ein Buch is the work · not a sum
He bought his mother some flowers / He bought some flowers for his mother. · I bought my camera from a friend of mine. Cambridge · buy · [+ two objects] is the entry’s label · the slash is the entry’s
She'll never buy that story about you getting lost! Cambridge · buy verb (BELIEVE) · informal · no German clause on that page
Grammar of kaufen: kauft, kaufte, hat gekauft. Duden · DWDS · English Wiktionary Weak verb. ab- and ein- are written apart in the paradigms. The vowel of erwerben is the morphology the entry prints. None of that is a telicity claim.
Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Pat continues the named-participant series on verkaufen. A name does not spell case. ihr and ihm spell dative.
✓ Pat kauft ihr ein Auto.
constructed · dative beneficiary modelled on Duden’s jemandem etwas kaufen and on English Wiktionary’s meinem Sohn einen Computer · not a seller
✓ Pat kauft ihr das Buch für zehn Mark.
constructed · the dative and für zehn Mark are each printed · the WDG stacks für drei Mark with mir · this other-person dative plus that price is not one dictionary line
✓ Pat kauft ihm das Auto ab.
constructed · dative seller modelled on Duden’s jemandem ein altes Radio abkaufen and on DWDS’s jmdm. ein Haus, Auto abkaufen · separable ab
* Pat kauft sie ein Auto.
constructed · accusative beneficiary · the printed person beside the goods on kaufen is dative · English his mother has no case ending
The participle and werden are operations on the same places. They do not add a participant. The particles are written where the paradigms print them. They are not given a telicity reading.
werden of the goods. Duden prints diese Marke wird viel, gern gekauft. The brand is the subject. No dative and no für are in the line. Duden’s das Material wurde en gros eingekauft promotes the material of einkaufen. Nothing further is constructed. A passive that makes the beneficiary or the seller the subject and leaves the goods accusative is unprinted.
Particles and the other stem. kaufen is weak: kauft, kaufte, hat gekauft. ab- on abkaufen separates: kauft ab, kaufte ab, hat abgekauft. ein- on einkaufen separates: kauft ein, kaufte ein, hat eingekauft. erwerben is strong: erwirbt, erwarb, hat erworben. The vowel is the morphology the entry prints. It is not a second event.
The believe line stays on abkaufen. Duden prints was du da sagst, kauft dir keiner ab and glosses it glaubt dir niemand, labeled transferred and umgangssprachlich. German Wiktionary prints Diese Geschichte kaufe ich dir nicht ab. English Wiktionary prints das kaufe ich dir nicht ab and glosses it I don't buy it. The dative is still there. The thing believed is the accusative. A clipped das kauf ich dir nicht ab is not the spelling of those lines. Cambridge’s She'll never buy that story is the English believe sense, with no German clause on that page. The bribe sense, Duden’s einen Beamten kaufen, puts the person in the accusative and stays off the purchase frame.
Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Buyer to Voice, the Goods to the root, the Price to für, and a dative to an added phrase inside the verb’s domain. On kaufen that dative is the beneficiary. On abkaufen it is the seller. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.
Constructed · the finite verb in C · one external argument
[CP Pat_1
[C' hat
[TP t_1
[VoiceP t_1 Voice ← Buyer = Spec,Voice
… kaufen … ]
T ]]]
✓ Pat hat das Buch gekauft. constructed
The external argument is the Buyer. English keeps that one subject on buy. A werden line of the goods has no overt Buyer. Duden’s diese Marke wird viel, gern gekauft is that line. On verkaufen the external argument is the Seller, not this Buyer.
One accusative · one dative · the role depends on the lemma · working, revisable
[VoiceP Pat Voice
[ApplP [ihr]_DAT Appl ← beneficiary · kaufen
[VP √kauf-
[Theme ein Auto ]_ACC ]]]
[VoiceP Pat Voice
[ApplP [ihm]_DAT Appl ← seller · abkaufen
[VP √abkauf-
[Theme das Auto ]_ACC
[PP für [ zehn Mark ]]]]] ← Price · not a second accusative
The two datives are not given one role. Duden’s jemandem etwas kaufen is the beneficiary. Duden’s jemandem ein altes Radio abkaufen is the seller, and the definition paraphrases that dative as von jemandem. The für-phrase is the price. It is not the beneficiary.
✓ Ich kaufe meinem Sohn einen Computer English Wiktionary · beneficiary
✓ jemandem ein altes Radio abkaufen Duden · seller
✓ für drei Mark kann ich mir das nicht k. WDG · price beside the beneficiary
* Pat kauft sie ein Auto. constructed · accusative beneficiary · unprinted
Working · no English buy page is opened
[VoiceP he Voice ← Buyer
[ApplP his mother Appl ← Beneficiary · bare object
[VP √BUY
[Theme some flowers ]]]] ← He bought his mother some flowers
· Cambridge [+ two objects]
[VoiceP he Voice
[VP √BUY
[Theme some flowers ]
[PP for [ his mother ]]]] ← the same Cambridge line
· a German für+person is unprinted
[VoiceP I Voice
[VP √BUY
[Theme my camera ]
[PP from [ a friend of mine ]]]] ← Cambridge
· abkaufen spells that person as a dative
Cambridge’s [+ two objects] puts the beneficiary in the first object, and the same entry puts that person in for. The seller is from. German meinem Sohn matches the first object, not for. German für zehn Mark is the price, which those Cambridge lines do not print as a numeral. German ihm on abkaufen matches from him, not the beneficiary.
| Layer | buy (EN) · no page | kaufen / abkaufen |
|---|---|---|
| Spec,Voice | Buyer | Buyer · on verkaufen this layer is the Seller |
| Beneficiary | bare first object, or for + person | dative on kaufen · für+person unprinted |
| Seller | from + person | bare dative on abkaufen · von+dative where kaufen prints it · bei unranked |
| Goods | object | accusative |
| Price | unprinted as a numeral for in the lines opened | für + sum · one phrase · beside the dative where the WDG and the abkaufen corpus print both |
| passive | unasserted here | werden promotes the goods in the line Duden prints |
On verkaufen the dative is the buyer, the person who comes to have the goods, and für is the price. On kaufen the subject is that buyer, the dative is the beneficiary, and für is again the price. The analogy is the added dative and the one für-phrase. It is not a claim that a beneficiary and a seller are one role.
Working paper · October 2026 · German micro-entry · Beyond Index 2
Buying in German is not one dative. Buyer (Voice, subject), Goods (complement of the root, accusative), Price (für + one phrase, where a line prints it), Source where a line prints one (von+dative, or bei), and a dative beneficiary on kaufen. On abkaufen the bare dative is the seller. English buy someone something is a double object. English buy something for someone is for. English buy X from Y is from.
Not a flat grid of four sisters, and not one case frame copied from the English gloss. Voice adds the Buyer. The root takes the Goods. für adds the Price. A dative adds a person whose role is read off the lemma. A von-phrase or a bei-phrase adds a source where the line prints it. The drawing is working and revisable.
What German changes, against English buy his mother some flowers and buy some flowers for his mother, is that the beneficiary is a dative, and that the printed für is the price. What German changes, against English buy it from him, is that abkaufen spells that person as a bare dative, the same case as the beneficiary of kaufen.
Dictionary frames: Duden online kaufen, abkaufen, einkaufen, and erwerben; DWDS, the WDG text of kaufen, the modern articles of kaufen, abkaufen, einkaufen, and erwerben, and two corpus lines of abkaufen; German Wiktionary kaufen, abkaufen, and einkaufen; English Wiktionary kaufen, abkaufen, and buy; Cambridge buy. Constructed clauses put a printed case on a named buyer. Index 2 does not list these lemmas. German Transfer in Index 2 is tauschen; geben.
Records the nominative Buyer and the accusative Goods of kaufen. Records the dative beneficiary, and records that the same case on abkaufen is the seller. Records für as the price, including beside that dative. Records von and bei only in the lines that print them. Does not open an English page.