Questions & Answers about Ich lese gerade das Tagebuch meines Opas.
Why does it say meines Opas instead of mein Opa?
This uses the Genitive case, which shows possession or ownership, similar to adding an apostrophe-s in English. Because Opa is a masculine noun, the possessive word mein takes the Genitive ending -es to become meines. The noun itself also gets an -s at the end, making it Opas.
How do we know this means 'am currently reading' and not just 'read'?
German does not have a dedicated continuous tense like the English '-ing' form. To show that an action is happening right now, German uses the standard present tense verb (lese) along with a time word like gerade, which means 'currently' or 'just'.
Why doesn't the word Opa get an -es ending in the Genitive case, like Mannes does?
While masculine and neuter nouns take an ending in the Genitive case, they usually only take a simple -s if the word has more than one syllable or ends in a vowel. Since Opa ends in a vowel, it just becomes Opas. The -es ending is generally saved for short, one-syllable nouns.
How could I change this sentence to use an accusative plural relative clause, like in our current lesson?