Questions & Answers about Er trägt das Fahrrad.
Why does the verb have an umlaut (trägt) instead of just being tragt?
The base verb is tragen (to carry). It is a strong verb that changes its stem vowel from a to ä in the du (you) and er/sie/es (he/she/it) forms. Because the subject here is er (he), the verb gets the umlaut and becomes trägt.
The translation says "He is carrying". Why isn't there a word for "is" in the German sentence?
German doesn't have a separate "is doing" (continuous) tense like English does. The single word trägt covers both "carries" and "is carrying". If you tried to add a word for "is" (like ist), the sentence would be grammatically incorrect in German.
Is das Fahrrad the subject or the object in this sentence?
It is the direct object, meaning it receives the action of being carried. This puts it in the accusative case. Because Fahrrad is a neuter noun, its word for "the" stays das in the accusative case, looking exactly the same as it does when it's the subject.
I thought tragen meant "to wear"?
It means both! German uses the exact same verb, tragen, for wearing clothes or accessories and for physically carrying an object (like a bicycle). You can easily tell which meaning is intended based on the context.
Learn Er trägt das Fahrrad and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free