Breakdown of Unser neues Haustier, ein junger Hund, spielt gerne mit dem Ball.
spielen
to play
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
neu
new
der Hund
the dog
Questions & Answers about Unser neues Haustier, ein junger Hund, spielt gerne mit dem Ball.
Why is unser used before Haustier and not unsere or another form?
In German, possessive pronouns agree with the noun’s gender, case, and number. Haustier is a neuter noun in the nominative singular, so the correct possessive form is unser (neuter nominative), not unsere (which would be feminine or plural).
Why does neu take the ending -es in neues Haustier?
Possessive pronouns like unser follow the mixed‐declension pattern (similar to indefinite articles such as ein). Because unser doesn’t fully mark the neuter nominative case on its own, the adjective neu must carry that information with a strong ending. For neuter nominative singular, that ending is -es, giving neues Haustier.
Why are there commas around ein junger Hund, and what is that phrase called?
The phrase ein junger Hund is an apposition—it renames or gives extra information about unser neues Haustier. In German, non‐restrictive appositions must be set off by commas at both the beginning and the end.
What grammatical case is ein junger Hund in, and why does the adjective jung end in -er?