Breakdown of Die Familie feiert Toms Geburtstag.
die Familie
the family
der Geburtstag
the birthday
feiern
to celebrate
Tom
Tom
Questions & Answers about Die Familie feiert Toms Geburtstag.
Why is there no apostrophe in Toms?
Unlike English, German doesn't usually use an apostrophe to show possession. To say "Tom's", you just add an -s directly to the name to make Toms.
Why is the translation "is celebrating" instead of just "celebrates"?
German doesn't have a separate continuous tense to show an action happening right now. Die Familie feiert can translate to both "The family celebrates" and "The family is celebrating", depending on the context.
Even though a family has multiple people, why does the verb feiern end in -t?
Just like in English, die Familie is a singular noun ("the family"). Because it's treated as a single unit, the verb takes the standard third-person singular ending -t to become feiert (just like you would say "the family is", not "the family are").
I know nouns usually have an article (like der, die, or das). Why doesn't Geburtstag have one here?
When you use a name to show possession (like Toms), it completely replaces the article. You say Toms Geburtstag, never Toms der Geburtstag or der Toms Geburtstag.
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