Breakdown of Ihr Ehemann kommt aus Spanien.
kommen
to come
aus
from / out of (made of)
ihr
her / their
Spanien
Spain
Questions & Answers about Ihr Ehemann kommt aus Spanien.
The word Ihr at the start of the sentence could mean 'her', 'their', or the formal 'your'. How do we know which one it is?
Because it is the first word of the sentence, it must be capitalized anyway, so we can only tell from the surrounding context. If it were in the middle of a sentence, a lowercase ihr would mean 'her' or 'their', while a capitalized Ihr means the formal 'your'.
Can I just say Mann instead of Ehemann?
Yes! In everyday German, saying ihr Mann (her man) is the most common way to say 'her husband'. The word Ehemann combines die Ehe (marriage) and der Mann (man) to be extra specific.
Why is the preposition aus used here instead of von for 'from'?
When talking about someone's origin, hometown, or home country, German always uses kommen aus (literally 'to come out of'). You would use von if he was just traveling back from a quick trip or an errand.
Should there be an article before Spanien, since prepositions like aus usually force the next word to change?
No, most countries in German do not use an article at all, so they don't change after a preposition. You just say aus Spanien. You only need articles for a few specific countries, like aus der Schweiz (from Switzerland) or aus den USA (from the USA).