Breakdown of Morgen ist der dreißigste Geburtstag von Tom.
sein
to be
morgen
tomorrow
der Geburtstag
the birthday
Tom
Tom
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
dreißigste
thirtieth
Questions & Answers about Morgen ist der dreißigste Geburtstag von Tom.
Why is the suffix -ste added to make dreißigste?
To say 'thirtieth' instead of 'thirty' (dreißig), we use an ordinal number. In German, numbers from 20 onwards add -ste (or -sten) to the base number. This is a slight shift from smaller numbers, which just add -te (like der neunte for 'the ninth').
Why does it end in -e (dreißigste) instead of -en (dreißigsten)?
Ordinal numbers take the exact same endings as regular adjectives. Because Geburtstag is a masculine noun and is the subject of this sentence (nominative case), the ending after the definite article der is simply -e. You will see -en in other situations, such as saying 'on the 30th birthday' (am dreißigsten Geburtstag).
Could I say Toms dreißigster Geburtstag instead of using von Tom?
Why does the verb ist come before the subject?
Because the sentence starts with the time word Morgen ('Tomorrow'). In a standard German sentence, the main verb must always be in the second position. Since Morgen takes position one, the verb ist takes position two, pushing the actual subject (der dreißigste Geburtstag) to the other side of the verb.
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