Questions & Answers about Er kann sehr gut Gitarre spielen.
Why is spielen at the very end of the sentence?
This is because of the sentence bracket (Satzklammer) rule. When you use a modal verb like können (can), the conjugated modal verb takes the second position in the sentence (kann), and the main verb gets pushed to the very end in its dictionary form (spielen). Everything else gets sandwiched in between!
Why is the verb kann instead of something like könnt?
Modal verbs in German are often irregular in their singular forms. For können, the vowel changes from ö to a. Also, the ich (I) and er/sie/es (he/she/it) forms do not get the usual verb endings. So, 'he can' is simply er kann, just like 'I can' is ich kann.
Why is there no word for 'the' before Gitarre?
In English, we usually say someone plays 'the' guitar. In German, when you talk about the general ability to play an instrument, you leave out the article entirely. You just put the instrument name right before the verb: Gitarre spielen.
In English we say 'play guitar very well', but the German word order is different. Why?
German usually puts adverbs that describe how you do something (sehr gut) before the object (Gitarre). Because the sentence bracket rule also pushes the main verb (spielen) to the very end, the literal word order becomes 'He can very well guitar play'.