Breakdown of Sie nennt ihren Hund immer Liebling.
der Hund
the dog
immer
always
ihr
her / their
nennen
to name
Questions & Answers about Sie nennt ihren Hund immer Liebling.
Does the verb nennen take a double accusative here?
Yes! The verb nennen (to call or name) is one of the few German verbs that takes two accusative objects. Both the entity being named (ihren Hund) and the name itself (Liebling) are in the accusative case. You cannot see the case on Liebling because there is no article, but grammatically it is accusative.
Could I say "Sie nennt ihren Hund als Liebling"?
No, you should not use als here. While German verbs like bezeichnen (to refer to / designate) require als (e.g., Sie bezeichnet ihn als Liebling), the verb nennen connects directly to the second noun without any extra words.
Why is the time adverb immer placed after the direct object ihren Hund?
Time adverbs usually come early in a sentence, but they drop behind a direct object if that object is definite. Because ihren Hund uses a possessive pronoun, it is a specific, known object and naturally pushes in front of immer.