Word
Welchen Knochen darf der Hund fressen?
Meaning
Which bone is the dog allowed to eat?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Welchen Knochen darf der Hund fressen?
der Hund
the dog
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
welcher
which (welcher, welche, welches, welchen, welchem...)
fressen
to eat (for animals)
Questions & Answers about Welchen Knochen darf der Hund fressen?
Why is it Welchen instead of Welcher or Welche?
Welchen is the accusative masculine form. In this sentence, the bone (Knochen) is the direct object because it is the thing being eaten. Since Knochen is a masculine noun (der Knochen), the question word welch- takes the accusative masculine ending -en.
Wait, isn't the dog the object? Why is it der Hund and not den Hund?
The dog is actually the subject of the sentence because the dog is the active one doing the eating. Therefore, it takes the nominative case (der Hund). The bone is the direct object receiving the action, which is why it is in the accusative case at the beginning of the sentence.
Why is fressen at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses a form of the modal verb dürfen (to be allowed to). When you use a modal verb, the conjugated part (darf) takes the usual verb spot, and the main action verb (fressen) gets pushed to the very end in its dictionary form. Here, the first grammatical position of the sentence is taken up by the entire question phrase Welchen Knochen.
Why use fressen instead of essen for 'to eat'?