Breakdown of Schlafen die Kinder? Nein, sie schlafen nicht.
das Kind
the child
nein
no
sie
they
nicht
not
schlafen
to sleep
Questions & Answers about Schlafen die Kinder? Nein, sie schlafen nicht.
Why does nicht go at the very end of the sentence?
When you want to negate an entire sentence or the main action (the verb), nicht usually goes at the very end. In sie schlafen nicht, it negates the verb schlafen to state that the action of sleeping is not happening.
Where is the word for "are" in Schlafen die Kinder?
German doesn't have an exact match for the English "are doing" or "is doing" (the continuous tense). The simple present tense verb schlafen covers both "sleep" and "are sleeping" depending on the context.
Why does the first sentence start with the verb Schlafen?
To ask a simple "yes/no" question in German, you just swap the subject and the verb. The statement Die Kinder schlafen (The children are sleeping) turns into the question Schlafen die Kinder? (Are the children sleeping?) simply by pulling the verb to the front.
How do we know sie means "they" here, and not "she"?
Two reasons! Contextually, it refers back to the plural noun die Kinder (the children). Grammatically, we look at the verb: schlafen is the plural form. If sie meant "she", the verb would be singular: sie schläft (she is sleeping).
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