Learn Dutch: De armen kregen een gratis maaltijd. - The poor received a free meal.

When you turn an adjective into a noun to refer to a group of people, you add -n to make it plural. De arme refers to one poor person, while de armen refers to poor people in general.

Wait, doesn't armen also mean "arms"?

Yes! De armen can mean "the arms" (body parts) or "the poor". You have to rely on context to tell them apart. Since arms can't eat a meal, it's clear this sentence is talking about people.

Why is there no -e on the end of gratis?

The word maaltijd is a de-word, so normally an adjective before it would get an -e ending (like een warme maaltijd). However, gratis is a special exception. It never gets an -e ending, regardless of the noun it describes.

Which verb does kregen come from?

It is the simple past tense of krijgen (to get or receive). Since de armen is plural, we use the plural past tense form kregen.