Der Mann steht hier.

the man

Breakdown of Der Mann steht hier.

• hier: here
• stehen: to stand

Questions & Answers about Der Mann steht hier.

Why is it der Mann and not die Mann or das Mann?

In German, nouns have grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Since Mann (man) is a masculine noun, the correct article in the nominative case is der.

Why do we use steht instead of a different verb like ist?

Steht is the 3rd person singular form of stehen, which literally means "to stand." It describes the action or state of standing. On the other hand, ist (from sein) simply means "is," indicating existence or identity rather than the physical act of standing.

How do I know if I should use hier or something else like da?

Hier generally means "here," emphasizing proximity to the speaker, while da can mean "there," often suggesting a slightly more distant location or pointing out something not as close. In this sentence, "The man stands here," it’s most natural to say hier if the man is right near the speaker.

Do I always have to keep the subject (der Mann) at the beginning of the sentence?

In most basic declarative German sentences, the subject comes first. However, you can change the word order for emphasis. For example, Hier steht der Mann also works. The important rule is that the finite verb (steht) generally remains in the second position in standard written German.

What if I want to make the sentence plural, like "The men stand here"?

Then you switch the article to the plural die and use the plural form of Mann (which is Männer), and the verb changes to the plural form stehen. So it becomes Die Männer stehen hier.