Das Kind spielt im Haus.

the child

Breakdown of Das Kind spielt im Haus.

• spielen: to play
• das Haus: the house
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter)

Questions & Answers about Das Kind spielt im Haus.

Why is the article das used for Kind instead of der or die?

In German, nouns are assigned a grammatical gender, and the word Kind (meaning child) is classified as neuter. Therefore, the correct definite article is das. There’s no logical rule for why verbs or nouns take certain genders; it’s mostly a matter of memorizing the noun’s gender from the start.

What is the function of spielt in the sentence Das Kind spielt im Haus?

Spielt is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb spielen (meaning to play). Because the subject is das Kind (a singular noun), you need the er/sie/es (he/she/it) form of spielen, which is spielt.

Why is it im Haus and not in das Haus?

Im is a contraction of in dem. When you say im Haus, you’re literally saying in the house. This contraction is standard in German whenever in is followed by the article dem (the dative masculine or neuter article). So instead of in dem Haus, Germans commonly say im Haus.

Is there a special rule for the word order subject – verb – prepositional phrase in this sentence?