Word
Er zeigt dem Lehrer ein Bild.
Meaning
He is showing the teacher a picture.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Er zeigt dem Lehrer ein Bild.
ein
a, an (eine)
er
he
das Bild
the picture
der Lehrer
the teacher
Questions & Answers about Er zeigt dem Lehrer ein Bild.
Why is it dem Lehrer and not der Lehrer?
Lehrer (teacher) is a masculine noun. In this sentence, the teacher is the one receiving the picture, which makes him the indirect object. German uses the dative case for indirect objects, so the masculine article changes from der to dem.
Why does dem Lehrer come before ein Bild?
In German sentences that have two objects, the dative object (the receiver, dem Lehrer) usually comes before the accusative object (the thing being acted on, ein Bild). It directly matches the English structure "He shows the teacher a picture."
Ein Bild is the direct object here. Why didn't ein change to einen?
Bild is a neuter noun. In the accusative case (used for direct objects), only masculine words change their endings (like when ein becomes einen). Neuter words stay exactly the same as they are in the subject position, so it remains ein Bild.
Does zeigt mean "shows" or "is showing"?
It means both! German does not have a separate continuous tense (like "is doing" or "are going"). Er zeigt can be translated as "He shows" or "He is showing" depending on what sounds most natural in English.