Log inSign up

Deine Eltern arbeiten zusammen.

Deine Eltern arbeiten zusammen.
Your parents work together.
From Lesson 22:First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)·German

Questions & Answers about Deine Eltern arbeiten zusammen.

Why is it deine and not dein?
Eltern (parents) is a plural noun. When we use possessive words like "my" or "your" with plural words as the subject of a sentence, we must add an -e to the end. So, dein becomes deine.
Does deine only go with plural words?
No, the -e ending is also used for feminine nouns. For example, you would use it for a feminine word like Mutter (deine Mutter) exactly the same way you use it for a plural word like Eltern (deine Eltern).
How would I say this if I were speaking formally to someone?
You would change the informal deine to the formal "your", which is Ihre. The sentence would be Ihre Eltern arbeiten zusammen. Notice that Ihre also gets that -e at the end because Eltern is plural, and the first letter must always be capitalized!
Why does the verb arbeiten end in -en here?
The subject of the sentence is Deine Eltern (your parents), which counts as "they" (third-person plural). In German, when a verb goes with "they" (sie), it usually takes the -en ending, which makes it look just like its basic dictionary form.

Learn Deine Eltern arbeiten zusammen 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
Start learning German →