Breakdown of Der Mann arbeitet, und du arbeitest auch.
der Mann
the man
du
you (informal singular)
auch
also, too
und
and
arbeiten
to work
Questions & Answers about Der Mann arbeitet, und du arbeitest auch.
Why is there an extra 'e' in arbeitest? Shouldn't the ending just be '-st' for du?
Normally, yes! But the stem of the verb arbeiten (to work) ends in a 't' (arbeit-). To make it easier to say, German adds an extra e before the -st ending. That is why it is du arbeitest and not du arbeitst.
How would this change if I were speaking formally to someone?
If you were speaking formally, you would use Sie instead of du. The verb ending for the formal Sie is -en, so the second half of the sentence would be: und Sie arbeiten auch.
Why does arbeitet for 'Der Mann' have a different ending?
The verb changes to match the subject. Der Mann (The man) is a 'he' (third-person singular). Verbs for 'he', 'she', or 'it' usually get a -t ending. Just like with du, an extra e is added for pronunciation, making it arbeitet.
Does und change the word order of the sentence?
No, und (and) is very simple to use. It just glues two sentences together without changing their word order. The second part keeps its standard structure: subject (du) followed directly by the conjugated verb (arbeitest).
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