Learn German: Hier spielt der Hund oft. - The dog often plays here.

In German main sentences, the verb must always be in the second position (this is called the V2 rule). Because the sentence starts with the location Hier in position one, the verb spielt must take position two. The subject der Hund is then forced to move to position three, right after the verb.

Why does the verb spielt end in -t?

The dictionary form of the verb is spielen (to play). Because the subject doing the action is der Hund (which counts as a third-person subject, like he, she, or it), we drop the -en and add the regular ending -t, making it spielt.

Why is oft at the very end of the sentence?

In English, we usually put "often" before the verb (The dog often plays here). In German, adverbs like oft generally come after the conjugated verb. Since the verb and subject are taking up the earlier slots in this inverted sentence, oft gets pushed to the end.

Why is Hund capitalized?

In German, every single noun (a person, place, idea, or thing) is always capitalized, no matter where it appears in the sentence. Since Hund (dog) is a noun, it starts with a capital letter!