Breakdown of Der Lehrer gibt immer ein gutes Beispiel.
gut
good / well
immer
always
geben
to give
der Lehrer
the teacher
das Beispiel
the example
Questions & Answers about Der Lehrer gibt immer ein gutes Beispiel.
Why is the verb gibt instead of gebt?
The verb geben (to give) changes its vowel for he, she, and it. The e changes to an i, so Der Lehrer (he) takes gibt. The form gebt is only used for the plural 'you all' (ihr).
Why is there an 's' at the end of gutes?
The word for example is neuter (das Beispiel). Because the word ein does not explicitly show us the gender, the adjective steps up to show it by taking an -s or -es ending.
Is ein gutes Beispiel in the accusative case here?
Yes! It is the direct object receiving the action of the verb, so it is accusative. However, because neuter words do not change their spelling in the accusative case, it looks exactly the same as it would in the basic nominative case.
Could I start this sentence with the word Immer?
Yes, you can say Immer gibt der Lehrer ein gutes Beispiel. In German main clauses, the verb must stay in the second position. If you put Immer first, the verb gibt stays in position two, pushing the subject (der Lehrer) to position three.
If I put und or aber at the beginning of this sentence, does the word order change?
No, it stays exactly the same! Coordinating conjunctions like und, oder, aber, and denn take up 'Position 0'. This means they do not count as the first idea in the sentence. You would just say: Und der Lehrer gibt... with the subject in Position 1 and the verb safely in Position 2.
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