Breakdown of Lieben die Kinder ihren Garten?
das Kind
the child
lieben
to love
der Garten
the garden
ihr
her / their
Questions & Answers about Lieben die Kinder ihren Garten?
Wait, doesn't ihr mean "her"? Why does it mean "their" here?
The base word ihr can mean "her", but it is also the German word for "their". Because the subject here is die Kinder (the children, which is "they"), the correct possessive word to use for "they" is ihr (their).
Why does it have the -en ending to make ihren?
ihren describes Garten (garden), which is a masculine noun. In this sentence, the garden is the direct object (the thing being loved), so it is in the accusative case. For masculine nouns, possessive words take the -en ending in the accusative, so ihr becomes ihren.
Why does the sentence start with the verb Lieben?
To ask a yes/no question in German, you move the verb to the very beginning of the sentence. The statement "The children love..." is Die Kinder lieben..., so swapping the verb and the subject turns it into "Do the children love...?"
How do we know die Kinder is plural here?
There are two clues! First, the article is die (the singular is das Kind). Second, the verb lieben has the -en ending, which matches the plural "they" form.
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