Breakdown of Die Katze ist klein und sie spielt gern.
sein
to be
sie
she
und
and
klein
small
die Katze
the cat
spielen
to play
gern
gladly, like to
Questions & Answers about Die Katze ist klein und sie spielt gern.
Why does the sentence use sie when the English translation says 'it'?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they refer to. Because the word for cat is feminine (die Katze), we use the feminine pronoun sie to replace it. We do not use the neutral pronoun es (it) just because it is an animal.
Why does the verb end in -t in spielt?
The base verb is spielen (to play). Because the subject of this part of the sentence is sie (referring to the cat), we use the third-person singular form. For regular verbs, you drop the -en ending and add a -t to make spielt.
Where is the word for 'likes' in sie spielt gern?
German usually does not use a verb for 'like' when talking about enjoying an action. Instead, it uses the word gern (gladly) right after the main verb. So sie spielt gern literally means 'she plays gladly,' which is how you say 'it likes to play' in German.
How does the word und affect the V2 (verb second) word order here?
The word und (and) connects two sentences, but it does not take up a position in the sentence structure itself. You can think of it as 'position zero.' Because of this, the subject sie sits in position 1, and the verb spielt successfully takes its required spot in position 2.
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