Breakdown of Das Einkommen der Menschen steigt jedes Jahr.
das Jahr
the year
der Mensch
the human, person
jeder
everyone / each
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
steigen
to rise (go up, increase)
das Einkommen
the income
Questions & Answers about Das Einkommen der Menschen steigt jedes Jahr.
Why is it der Menschen here instead of die Menschen?
In this sentence, der Menschen is in the genitive case, which shows possession to mean 'of the people'. For plural nouns in German, the genitive definite article is always der.
Why do we say jedes Jahr instead of using a preposition to say 'in every year'?
In German, you can express a definite, specific time period simply by putting the time phrase in the accusative case, without needing any preposition at all. Because Jahr is a neuter noun, the accusative form of jede gets an -es ending to become jedes Jahr.
How would the word order change if I started this sentence with a phrase using this lesson's new preposition, like Laut dem Bericht (According to the report)?
It would become: Laut dem Bericht steigt das Einkommen der Menschen jedes Jahr. Because the phrase Laut dem Bericht takes up the first position in the sentence, the conjugated verb steigt must stay locked in the second position. This pushes the subject das Einkommen into the third position right after the verb.
Is steigen only used for abstract things like income or numbers going up?
It is heavily used for abstract increases like income, temperatures, or prices, but you can definitely use it for physical climbing too! For example, you would use it to say auf einen Berg steigen (to climb a mountain).
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