Breakdown of Das Kind hat Fieber. Es soll unbedingt schlafen.
es
it
das Kind
the child
haben
to have
schlafen
to sleep
sollen
should / ought to
das Fieber
the fever
unbedingt
absolutely
Questions & Answers about Das Kind hat Fieber. Es soll unbedingt schlafen.
Why is it Es soll and not Es sollt?
Modal verbs like sollen are a bit irregular in the singular. The first person (ich) and third person (er/sie/es) are always exactly the same and don't take the usual -t ending. So it is ich soll and es soll.
Why does the second sentence use es (it) instead of er (he) or sie (she)?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Since the word for child is neuter (das Kind), you must use the neuter pronoun es. In English, we usually say 'he' or 'she' for a child, but German sticks strictly to the noun's grammatical gender.
Why is schlafen at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard word order when using modal verbs. The conjugated modal verb (soll) takes the second position in the sentence, and the main action verb (schlafen) gets pushed to the very end in its dictionary (infinitive) form.
Why is there no ein before Fieber? The English translation says 'a fever'.
In German, you generally don't use an article with Fieber. While English speakers catch 'a fever' or 'a cold', Germans simply say Ich habe Fieber (literally: I have fever). This is similar to how we say 'I have time' or 'I have luck' in English without an article.
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