Word
Der Kaffee schmeckt der Mutter immer.
Meaning
The mother always likes the coffee.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Kaffee schmeckt der Mutter immer.
der Kaffee
the coffee
immer
always
die Mutter
the mother
schmecken
to taste
Questions & Answers about Der Kaffee schmeckt der Mutter immer.
Why does it say der Mutter instead of die Mutter?
Because the mother is in the Dative case here! The verb schmecken (to taste good) requires the Dative case for the person experiencing the taste. In the Dative case, the feminine word for 'the' changes from die to der.
The translation says 'The mother always likes the coffee', so shouldn't the mother be the subject?
In English, yes. But in German, the verb schmecken works backwards compared to the English 'to like'. It literally means 'to taste good to'. So grammatically, der Kaffee (the coffee) is the subject doing the action, and it tastes good to the mother.
How do I know der Kaffee is the subject and not der Mutter? After all, they both use der!
Kaffee is a masculine noun, and its word for 'the' as a subject (Nominative case) is der. Mutter is a feminine noun, and its word for 'the' only becomes der when it is the receiver (Dative case). Because of these cases, German speakers always know who is doing the tasting!
Can I change the word order to put the mother first, like in English?
Yes! You could say Der Mutter schmeckt der Kaffee immer. The meaning is exactly the same because the cases (der Kaffee as Nominative, der Mutter as Dative) keep the roles clear. Putting Der Mutter first just puts a little more emphasis on her.