Anna erzählt eine witzige Geschichte.

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Breakdown of Anna erzählt eine witzige Geschichte.

• die Geschichte: the story
• erzählen: to tell
• Anna: Anna

Questions & Answers about Anna erzählt eine witzige Geschichte.

Why is the verb erzählt in the second position?

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

So in:

Anna erzählt eine witzige Geschichte.

• Anna = position 1
• erzählt = position 2
• eine witzige Geschichte = the rest of the sentence

This is similar to standard English word order in a simple sentence, but in German the verb-second rule is much more strict. Even if you move another element to the front, the verb still stays second:

• Heute erzählt Anna eine witzige Geschichte.
• Eine witzige Geschichte erzählt Anna.

Why is it Anna and not die Anna?

In standard German, first names usually appear without an article.

So you normally say:

• Anna erzählt ...
• Paul kommt ...
• Maria lernt ...

In some regional varieties of German, especially in parts of southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, people do sometimes use an article with names in everyday speech, such as die Anna or der Paul. But for standard German learning, Anna without an article is the normal form.

What form is erzählt, and what is the infinitive?