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Questions & Answers about Die Ärztin arbeitet hier.
How do we know the doctor is female from the word Ärztin?
In German, professions usually have specific forms for men and women. The word for a male doctor is der Arzt. To make it female, German adds the ending -in and changes the A to an Ä (an umlaut), giving us die Ärztin.
Why does the verb arbeitet have an extra "e" before the "t"?
The dictionary form of the verb is arbeiten, and its "stem" (the core part of the word) is arbeit-. Normally, for words like "he", "she", or "it", you just add a -t to the stem. But because arbeit- already ends in a "t", adding another "t" would be impossible to pronounce! German inserts an extra e to make it smooth: arbeitet.
If I wanted to say "The doctor is working here", how would I translate the word "is"?
You don't need to! German doesn't have a separate "is doing" (continuous) tense like English does. Die Ärztin arbeitet hier correctly translates to both "The doctor works here" (in general) and "The doctor is working here" (right now).
Could I start this sentence with the word hier?
Yes! You can emphasize where she works by saying Hier arbeitet die Ärztin. Just remember the golden rule of German sentences: the verb (arbeitet) must stay in the second position. Because hier took the first spot, the subject (die Ärztin) has to move to the other side of the verb.