Learn Hardcore German: Wir sammeln frische Kräuter im Garten.

sammeln is a regular German verb meaning to gather or to collect. In this sentence it is conjugated for wir, so wir sammeln means we gather or we are gathering.

What tense and person is wir sammeln?

It’s the present indicative, first-person plural. In English it translates as we gather or we are gathering.

What case is frische Kräuter, and why?

frische Kräuter is accusative plural because it’s the direct object of sammeln (what we are gathering). Without an article, German uses strong adjective endings, so the plural accusative adjective ending is -e.

Why is the adjective frische not frischen?

With no article before a plural noun, German applies strong inflection. For plural accusative the strong ending is -e, hence frische Kräuter rather than frischen Kräuter.

Why does the sentence say im Garten and not in den Garten?

im is the contraction of in dem (dative), indicating location (where something happens). in den Garten would be accusative and imply motion into the garden. Here you’re inside the garden gathering, so you use the dative im Garten to mean in the garden.

Why are Garten and Kräuter capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized. Both Garten (garden) and Kräuter (herbs) are nouns, so they always start with a capital letter.

Could you change the word order without changing the meaning?

Yes. German allows fronting of elements. You could say Im Garten sammeln wir frische Kräuter. The finite verb still occupies the second position, so the sentence meaning remains identical.

How do you pronounce Kräuter, especially the äu?

Kräuter is pronounced [ˈkʁɔʏtɐ]. The äu makes an oy sound (as in English boy), so it comes out roughly as KROY-ter.