Word
Das Kind schreibt der Oma einen Brief.
Meaning
The child writes the grandma a letter.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Das Kind schreibt der Oma einen Brief.
ein
a, an (eine)
das Kind
the child
schreiben
to write
die Oma
the grandma
Questions & Answers about Das Kind schreibt der Oma einen Brief.
Why does der Oma come before einen Brief?
When a verb has two object nouns (the person receiving something and the thing being given), German has a strict rule for word order: the Dative object (the receiver, der Oma) always comes before the Accusative object (the thing, einen Brief).
Grandma is female, so why is it der Oma instead of die Oma?
You are right that it is normally die Oma. However, because the grandma is the receiver of the letter, she is the indirect object. This means we must use the Dative case. In the Dative case, the feminine word die changes to der.
Why is the letter einen Brief rather than ein Brief?
The letter is the direct object (the thing being written), so it must be in the Accusative case. Since Brief is a masculine noun (der Brief), the indefinite article changes from ein to einen.
Can I say "Das Kind schreibt einen Brief zu der Oma" like we do in English with "to"?
It is much better and more natural in German to just use the Dative case without a preposition. Just like in English you can say "The child writes grandma a letter", German relies on this double-object structure for verbs about giving, sending, or showing things to people.