Der Vogel singt selten laut.

loud

Breakdown of Der Vogel singt selten laut.

• singen: to sing
• der Vogel: the bird
• selten: rarely

Questions & Answers about Der Vogel singt selten laut.

Why is Vogel used with der? What gender and case are they?

Vogel is a masculine noun. Because it’s the subject of the sentence, it’s in the nominative case and takes the definite article der.

What does singt mean and why isn’t it singen or sing?

The infinitive of the verb is singen (to sing). In the present tense, German verbs must be conjugated to agree with their subject. For er/sie/es (he/she/it), singen becomes singt, so der Vogel (he) + singt.

What are selten and laut in this sentence? Are they adjectives?

Here they act as adverbs. Selten is an adverb of frequency (“rarely”), and laut is an adverb of manner (“loudly”). In German, when adjectives modify verbs rather than nouns, they become adverbs and stay in their base form.

Why don’t selten and laut have any endings like adjectives do?

Adverbs in German are not declined. Only adjectives that directly modify nouns take endings. Since selten and laut describe how or how often something happens, they remain uninflected.

Why is the order selten laut and not laut selten?