Der Sohn ist traurig.

to be

Breakdown of Der Sohn ist traurig.

• traurig: sad
• der Sohn: the son

Questions & Answers about Der Sohn ist traurig.

Why is it Der Sohn and not something else?

In German, nouns have grammatical gender. Sohn (son) is a masculine noun, so it uses the masculine article der in the nominative case.

Why do we say ist traurig instead of another verb like hat?

To express a state of being sad in German, you typically use sein (to be) + an adjective. Hence, ist traurig translates to is sad.

Do I need to change the form of the adjective traurig because it refers to a masculine noun?

In this sentence, the adjective traurig follows the verb ist, so it remains unchanged. Adjective endings come into play when an adjective is placed directly before a noun, as in der traurige Sohn.

Is there a specific word order rule to follow here?

In a simple sentence, the basic word order is subject + verb + other elements. So Der Sohn (subject) + ist (verb) + traurig (complement) is the standard arrangement in German.