Questions & Answers about Die Kinder essen die Kirschen.
Why does the German sentence use essen instead of a literal translation for "are eating"?
German doesn't have a continuous tense like English does. Whether the children "eat" generally or "are eating" right now, you just use the standard present tense verb essen. Never try to say sind essen!
Are both instances of die doing the exact same job here?
Not quite! The first die is in the nominative case because die Kinder are the subject (the ones doing the eating). The second die is in the accusative case because die Kirschen are the direct object (the things being eaten). Fortunately, the plural word for "the" is die in both cases, so it looks identical.
How can I tell that Kinder and Kirschen are plural?
I thought the verb essen was irregular. Why does it just look like the normal dictionary form here?
You're right that essen is a strong (irregular) verb, but its vowel changes usually only happen in the singular forms, like er isst (he eats). In the plural forms like wir essen and sie essen (they eat), it goes back to looking exactly like the infinitive base verb.
Learn Die Kinder essen die Kirschen and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free