Questions & Answers about Der Baum ist grün.
Why doesn't grün have an ending to match the masculine word der Baum?
In German, adjectives only get an ending when they come directly before the noun they describe (like in der grüne Baum). Because grün comes after the verb ist in this sentence, it stays in its basic dictionary form without any extra letters. This is true for all adjectives used after a verb like "to be".
Why is Baum capitalized?
In German, every single noun (a word for a person, place, thing, or idea) is capitalized, no matter where it appears in the sentence. Since Baum (tree) is a noun, it must start with a capital letter.
Is there a rule for why it's der Baum and not die or das?
There is no logical reason why a tree is grammatically masculine! In German, nouns have one of three genders: masculine (der), feminine (die), or neuter (das). You simply have to memorize the gender along with the word, so it's best to always practice learning it as der Baum.
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