Breakdown of Der Lehrer erklärt einem Mädchen das Problem.
ein
a, an (eine)
das Problem
the problem
das Mädchen
the girl
der Lehrer
the teacher
erklären
to explain
Questions & Answers about Der Lehrer erklärt einem Mädchen das Problem.
Why is it einem Mädchen and not einer Mädchen since a girl is female?
Even though a girl is female, the German word Mädchen is a neuter noun (das Mädchen). This is because all German nouns ending in the diminutive suffix -chen are neuter. Since this sentence uses the dative case for the person receiving the action, the neuter indefinite article changes to einem.
How do we know who is explaining and who is listening?
The cases tell us the roles in the sentence. Der Lehrer is in the nominative case, so he is the subject doing the action. einem Mädchen is in the dative case, showing that she is the indirect object receiving the explanation.
Why does einem Mädchen come before das Problem?
In German, when a sentence has two noun objects, the dative object (the receiver, einem Mädchen) usually comes before the accusative object (the thing being acted upon, das Problem).
Is das Problem in the nominative case here?
No, it is in the accusative case because it is the direct object (the specific thing being explained). It just looks exactly the same because neuter nouns use das for both the nominative and accusative cases.
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