Wir pflegen den Garten.

We care for the garden.

Breakdown of Wir pflegen den Garten.

• wir: we
• der Garten: the garden
• pflegen: to care for; maintain

Questions & Answers about Wir pflegen den Garten.

What does pflegen mean here?

Here, pflegen means to tend, to look after, or to maintain. So Wir pflegen den Garten means that we take care of the garden.

A useful thing to know is that pflegen is a fairly broad verb in German. Depending on context, it can also mean:

• to care for a person
• to maintain something
• to cultivate a habit or tradition

In this sentence, because the object is den Garten, the meaning is clearly about garden care.

Why is it den Garten and not der Garten?

Because den Garten is the direct object of the sentence, and Garten is a masculine noun.

• der Garten = nominative masculine singular
• den Garten = accusative masculine singular

In Wir pflegen den Garten:

• Wir is the subject
• pflegen is the verb
• den Garten is the thing being cared for, so it is in the accusative case

This is one of the most important case patterns in German:

• masculine nouns change der → den in the accusative
• feminine and neuter articles do not change in the same way:
  • die stays die
  • das stays das

How do I know that Garten is masculine?