Word
Die Leute trinken gern Kaffee.
Meaning
People like to drink coffee.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Die Leute trinken gern Kaffee.
gern
gladly, like to
trinken
to drink
der Kaffee
the coffee
die Leute
the people
Questions & Answers about Die Leute trinken gern Kaffee.
Why does trinken end in -en here if there is no wir or sie in the sentence?
Die Leute (the people) is a plural subject. If you replaced it with a pronoun, you would use sie (they). Just like with sie (they) or wir (we), regular verbs take the -en ending when the subject is a plural noun.
Why is there no verb for 'like' in this sentence?
In German, you don't usually use a verb for 'to like' when talking about doing an action. Instead, you use the regular verb for the action (trinken) and add the word gern (gladly). So trinken gern literally means 'drink gladly,' which is the natural way to say 'like to drink' in German.
Could I say Die Leute gern trinken Kaffee?
No, because the verb must always be the second idea in a basic German statement. Die Leute (the people) takes up the first spot, so the verb trinken has to come right after it. The word gern usually follows the verb.
Why does the German sentence use Die Leute (The people) when the English translation just says 'People'?
In English, we often drop the word 'the' when making general statements about things or groups. German is a bit different and usually keeps the definite article die (the) before Leute, even when talking about people in general.