Die Ente schwimmt im See.

Because Ente is a feminine noun in German. German nouns have grammatical gender, and Ente takes the feminine article die in the nominative singular:

• die Ente = the duck

So in this sentence, die Ente is the subject, and the correct article is die.

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the action.

• Die Ente = the duck
• schwimmt = swims

So the duck is the one swimming, which makes it nominative.

In a normal German main clause, the finite verb usually comes in position 2. This is one of the most important German word order rules.

In this sentence:

• Die Ente = position 1
• schwimmt = position 2
• im See = the rest of the sentence

So Die Ente schwimmt im See follows standard German main-clause word order.

Because schwimmt is the conjugated form of the verb schwimmen.

The infinitive is:

• schwimmen = to swim

But with die Ente = she/it (third person singular), the verb changes:

• ich schwimme
• du schwimmst
• er/sie/es schwimmt

So Die Ente schwimmt means The duck swims / is swimming.

im is a contraction of:

• in dem → im

So:

• im See = in the lake

German often uses these contractions in everyday language, and im is extremely common.

Because im See describes location, not movement toward a destination.

German often makes this distinction:

• in dem / im See = in the lake → location, so dative
• in den See = into the lake → direction/movement into, so accusative

Here, the duck is already swimming in the lake, so German uses the dative:

• im See

If the sentence meant The duck swims into the lake, then you would expect in den See.

It is in the dative case.

The preposition in can take either:

• dative for location
• accusative for direction

Since im See means the duck is located in the lake, See is dative here.

Also, dem is the dative singular article for a masculine or neuter noun, and:

• der See = the lake

So:

• in dem See → im See

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So in this sentence:

• Ente is capitalized because it is a noun
• See is capitalized because it is a noun

This is different from English, where common nouns are usually lowercase.

It can mean either, depending on context.

German present tense often covers both meanings:

• Die Ente schwimmt. = The duck swims.
• Die Ente schwimmt. = The duck is swimming.

If there is no extra context, either translation may be possible.

A rough English-style guide is:

• schwimmt ≈ shvimmt

A few helpful points:

• sch is pronounced like English sh
• w is pronounced like English v
• i is short, like the i in sit
• the final t is clearly pronounced

So it sounds roughly like shvimmt.

Not always. die can mean different things in German:

1. feminine singular nominative

   • die Ente = the duck

2. feminine singular accusative

   • Ich sehe die Ente. = I see the duck.

3. plural nominative/accusative

   • die Enten = the ducks

So in this sentence, die is feminine singular because Ente is singular and feminine.

Yes. German allows some flexibility, as long as the verb stays in second position in a main clause.

For example:

• Im See schwimmt die Ente.

This is still correct, but it puts more emphasis on im See.

The original sentence:

• Die Ente schwimmt im See.

is the most neutral and straightforward version.

The dictionary forms are:

• die Ente = duck
• der See = lake

It is important to learn German nouns together with their articles, because the article tells you the noun’s gender.

So it is better to memorize:

• die Ente, not just Ente
• der See, not just See