Breakdown of Die Blumen im Garten sind bunt.
sein
to be
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
der Garten
the garden
Questions & Answers about Die Blumen im Garten sind bunt.
Why does the sentence start with Die Blumen and use die as the article here?
Because Die Blumen is the subject in the nominative plural. In German, all plural nouns—regardless of their gender—take the definite article die in the nominative case.
What part of speech is bunt, and why doesn’t it change its form?
Bunt is an adjective used predicatively (it comes after the linking verb sind). Predicative adjectives in German remain uninflected (no ending). Only attributive adjectives (those directly in front of a noun) take endings.
Why is the verb sind used instead of ist?
Because the subject Blumen is plural. The verb sein (to be) conjugates as sind in the 3rd-person plural, whereas ist is the 3rd-person singular form.
What is im Garten, and why isn’t it in dem Garten?
Im Garten is a prepositional phrase indicating location. Im is simply the contracted form of in dem. Since in denotes a static location here, it requires the dative case. Garten is masculine, so its dative article is dem → in dem → im.