Breakdown of Der Mann gibt heute ein Interview im Radio.
der Mann
the man
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
heute
today
geben
to give
das Radio
the radio
das Interview
the interview
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Questions & Answers about Der Mann gibt heute ein Interview im Radio.
Why is it Der Mann and not Den Mann at the beginning of the sentence?
In German, the subject of a sentence must be in the nominative case. Der Mann is the nominative form of “the man.” Den Mann would be the accusative form, which you use for direct objects, not for the subject.
What does gibt mean here? Why don’t we say macht or hat an Interview?
In German you “give” an interview just as you do in English. The verb geben (to give) in the third-person singular present tense is gibt. Machen (“to make/do”) or haben (“to have”) are not idiomatic with Interview.
Why does Interview take the article ein, and why doesn’t it change form in the accusative?
Interview is a neuter noun in German. As a direct object it’s in the accusative case. For neuter nouns, the indefinite article “ein” looks the same in nominative and accusative. If it were masculine, you’d see einen. Also, all German nouns are capitalized.
Why is heute placed after the verb, and can we move it elsewhere in the sentence?
Time-expressions like heute often come early, right after the verb (the so-called “time slot”). The finite verb stays in second position in a main clause. You can also say:
- Heute gibt der Mann ein Interview im Radio.
or move heute to the end, though that’s less usual: - Der Mann gibt ein Interview im Radio heute.
Why is it im Radio instead of ins Radio or just in Radio?
Im is the contraction of in dem. When you talk about location (where something happens), in takes the dative case. Radio is masculine/neuter (der Radio or das Radio), but idiomatically you use dem Radio → im Radio. Ins Radio (in + den) would be accusative and imply motion into the radio device, which isn’t what you mean here.
What case is ein Interview in, and how do I recognize it?
It’s the direct object of gibt, so it’s in the accusative case. You recognize it because it answers “what?” (What does he give? – an interview). Also, if Interview were masculine you’d see einen instead of ein.
What is the typical word order in this German sentence?
A standard German main clause follows:
- Subject (Der Mann)
- Finite verb (gibt)
- Time (Heure/heute)
- Object (ein Interview)
- Place (im Radio)
So the pattern here is Subject – Verb – Time – Object – Place.