Questions & Answers about Ihre Küche ist neu.
Why does ihr have an -e on the end here?
Possessive words like ihr (their) must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because Küche (kitchen) is a feminine word, we add an -e to make it Ihre.
Doesn't ihre mean "her"? How do we know it means "their" here?
The word ihr is a bit of a shapeshifter: it can mean "her", "their", or—when always capitalized as Ihr—the formal "your". Because it's at the beginning of the sentence, it has to be capitalized no matter what. Without a wider story around it, Ihre Küche ist neu could technically translate to "Her...", "Their...", or "Your kitchen is new." We only know it means "their" in this specific exercise because of the English translation!
If "their" refers to multiple people, why is the verb ist (is) singular instead of sind (are)?
The verb always matches the thing being owned, not the owners themselves. Even though "their" refers to multiple people, there is only one kitchen (Küche). Therefore, the sentence takes the singular verb ist.
Why is the adjective just neu and not neue, since Küche is feminine?
In German, adjectives only get gender endings (like the -e in neue) when they are placed directly in front of a noun, such as in eine neue Küche (a new kitchen). When the adjective comes after a verb like ist, it stays in its basic, unchanged dictionary form (neu).
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