Breakdown of Die Häuser und die Bäume sind auch groß.
sein
to be
auch
also, too
und
and
groß
big / tall
das Haus
the house
der Baum
the tree
Questions & Answers about Die Häuser und die Bäume sind auch groß.
Why do we use die for Häuser if the singular is das Haus?
In German, the definite article for all plural nouns is die, no matter what gender the noun has in the singular. So, das Haus (neuter) becomes die Häuser, and der Baum (masculine) becomes die Bäume.
How do Haus and Baum change to become plural?
Both words add an umlaut to their vowel (the a becomes ä), but they take different endings. Haus adds -er to become Häuser, while Baum adds just an -e to become Bäume. German has a few different ways to make plurals, so it is usually best to memorize the plural form when you learn a new noun.
The letters "au" change to "äu" in both plural words here. How does that change the pronunciation?
The plain au in Haus and Baum sounds like the "ou" in the English word "house". However, when you add the umlaut, the äu combination in Häuser and Bäume sounds exactly like the "oy" in the English word "boy".
Since the nouns are plural, why doesn't the adjective change to große?
In German, adjectives only get extra endings (like -e) when they come directly before the noun they are describing (as in die großen Häuser). Because the adjective groß comes after the verb sind (are), it acts as a standalone description and stays in its basic, unchanged dictionary form.
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