Breakdown of Lernt Ihre Tochter schnell?
lernen
to learn
schnell
fast, quickly
Ihr
your (formal)
die Tochter
the daughter
Questions & Answers about Lernt Ihre Tochter schnell?
Why does the word for 'your' have an -e at the end (Ihre)?
Because Tochter is a feminine noun. When you use a possessive word like Ihr (your) with a feminine noun in the subject of a sentence (the nominative case), you must add an -e to the end. If it were a masculine or neuter noun, it would just be Ihr (for example, Ihr Sohn for 'your son').
Why is Ihre capitalized in the middle of the sentence?
The capital I shows that this is the formal version of 'your' (used with someone you address as Sie). If it were written with a lowercase i (ihre Tochter), it would mean 'her daughter' or 'their daughter'. In written German, that capital letter is the only way to tell them apart!
Where is the word 'does' in this sentence?
German doesn't use helper words like 'does' or 'do' to make questions. Instead, you simply move the main verb to the very front. So, to ask 'Does your daughter learn quickly?', you literally ask 'Learns your daughter quickly?' (Lernt Ihre Tochter schnell?).
Why does the verb end in -t (lernt)?
The verb must match the subject of the sentence, which is Ihre Tochter (your daughter). Since 'daughter' is a single person (equivalent to 'she' or sie), the verb stem lern- gets the standard -t ending for the third-person singular.
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