Questions & Answers about Heute ist Annas Geburtstag.
Why is there no apostrophe in Annas like there is in English ("Anna's")?
In German, when you add an "s" to a person's name to show possession, you usually do not use an apostrophe. You just attach the s directly to the end of the name. So, "Anna's" becomes Annas and "Peter's" becomes Peters.
Can I say "Annas Geburtstag ist heute" instead?
Yes, you absolutely can! German word order is flexible. Starting with Heute (Today) emphasizes when the birthday is. Because German requires the verb to be in the second position, ist must come immediately after Heute. If you start with Annas Geburtstag to emphasize the birthday itself, ist still stays in the second position: Annas Geburtstag ist heute.
I noticed Geburtstag looks like a combination of words. What is it made of?
It's a compound noun made from die Geburt (the birth) and der Tag (the day), joined together by an extra connecting s in the middle. In German, compound nouns always take the gender of their final word. Since Tag is masculine, the whole word is masculine: der Geburtstag.
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