Breakdown of Der Hund hört gut, denn seine Ohren sind groß.
sein
to be
der Hund
the dog
groß
big / tall
gut
good / well
hören
to hear / to listen
sein
his
denn
because
das Ohr
the ear
Questions & Answers about Der Hund hört gut, denn seine Ohren sind groß.
Why doesn't the verb sind go to the end of the sentence after denn?
denn (because) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it doesn't change the word order. It just links two regular sentences together. If you used the other common word for "because" (weil), the verb would get kicked to the very end: ..., weil seine Ohren groß sind.
Why is the word for "its" seine? Doesn't that mean "his"?
Yes, sein usually translates to "his"! But in German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they refer back to. Since dog is a masculine noun (der Hund), German uses the masculine pronoun. It literally says "his ears" even though English uses "its".
Why does sein have an -e on the end here?
Possessive words like sein change their endings to match the noun that immediately follows them. Because Ohren (ears) is a plural word, you must add an -e to the base word to make it seine Ohren.
Why does German use gut here? Doesn't that mean "good" instead of "well"?
In German, you don't need a separate word for adverbs (words that describe actions). While English distinguishes between "good" (adjective) and "well" (adverb), German just uses the base form gut for both.
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