Learn German: Sie brauchen heute die Teller und die Tassen. - They need the plates and the cups today.

Sie brauchen heute die Teller und die Tassen.

They need the plates and the cups today.

Breakdown of Sie brauchen heute die Teller und die Tassen.

Questions & Answers about Sie brauchen heute die Teller und die Tassen.

Why is the plural of Teller just Teller without an extra ending?

In German, masculine and neuter nouns that end in -er, -en, or -el usually do not change their ending in the plural. Since plate is der Teller, the plural is simply die Teller.

Why does Tassen have an -n at the end?

The singular word for cup is die Tasse. Most feminine nouns in German form their plural by adding -n or -en. Since Tasse already ends in an -e, we just add an -n to make it die Tassen.

Does the article die before both nouns mean they are both feminine?

Not here! In this sentence, die is the plural word for the. The definite article for all plural nouns is die, regardless of whether the singular noun was masculine like der Teller or feminine like die Tasse.

Why does heute come right after the verb instead of at the end of the sentence?

German places time words like heute (today) much earlier in the sentence than English does. A common rule of thumb is Time, Manner, Place, meaning time information usually comes right after the main verb.