Breakdown of Der Junge und das Mädchen lernen zusammen.
und
and
lernen
to learn
zusammen
together
der Junge
the boy
das Mädchen
the girl
Questions & Answers about Der Junge und das Mädchen lernen zusammen.
This lesson is about plurals, but aren't der Junge and das Mädchen singular here? What are their plural forms?
Yes, they are singular in this sentence! But they are great examples for learning plurals. To make them plural, you change the article to the plural article die. der Junge becomes die Jungen (adding an -n). But das Mädchen is special: the word itself doesn't change at all, so 'the girls' is simply die Mädchen.
Why is it das Mädchen (neuter) instead of feminine? Isn't a girl female?
Grammatical gender in German doesn't always match biological gender. The word Mädchen has the ending -chen, which is used to make things sound small or cute. In German, every single noun that ends in -chen is automatically neuter and takes the article das.
Since both nouns are singular, why is the verb lernen in its plural form?
Because together, der Junge and das Mädchen form a plural subject. Just like in English, when you connect two singular nouns with und (and), they become a group (they). Therefore, you must use the plural 'they' form of the verb, which is lernen.
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