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Questions & Answers about Die Sonne erwärmt das Wasser.
Why is Die Sonne in the nominative case, and what role does it play in this sentence?
Die Sonne is the subject, i.e. the “doer” of the action. In German, the subject of a sentence always takes the nominative case. Since Sonne is a feminine noun, its nominative singular article is die.
Why is das Wasser in the accusative case?
Das Wasser is the direct object—the entity being warmed. German marks direct objects with the accusative case. For neuter nouns like Wasser, the nominative and accusative form of the definite article are both das.
How do I know that Wasser is neuter and thus takes das?
German nouns have grammatical gender (masculine, feminine or neuter). You simply have to learn each noun’s gender along with its article. Wasser is neuter, so it takes das in the nominative and accusative singular. A good dictionary entry will always list the gender, e.g. “das Wasser n.”
What tense and person is erwärmt, and how is this verb conjugated?
Erwärmt is the Präsens (present tense), third-person singular form of erwärmen. The infinitive is erwärmen (“to warm”), and with a singular subject like die Sonne you drop -en and add -t, giving erwärmt.
Why does the verb appear in the second position in this sentence?