Breakdown of Der Lehrer prüft heute die Hausaufgaben sorgfältig.
heute
today
die Hausaufgabe
the homework
der Lehrer
the teacher
sorgfältig
carefully
Questions & Answers about Der Lehrer prüft heute die Hausaufgaben sorgfältig.
Why is the article der used before Lehrer?
Because Lehrer is a masculine noun in the nominative singular case, serving as the subject. In German you must match the definite article to the noun’s gender, number, and case—here der is the correct masculine nominative singular article.
Why is the verb prüft written that way?
“prüft” is the third person singular present tense of the regular verb prüfen (“to check/examine”). You remove the infinitive ending -en to get the stem prüf- and add -t for er/sie/es, giving er prüft.
What case is die Hausaufgaben in, and how do you know?
It’s in the accusative plural because it’s the direct object of prüft (it answers “what is being checked?”). The accusative plural article is die, which coincides with the nominative plural form—but you identify it as the object by its role after the verb.
Why is Hausaufgaben plural when English uses “homework” as an uncountable noun?
In German, Hausaufgabe is a countable noun meaning “an assignment” or “exercise.” You normally talk about a collection of tasks—die Hausaufgaben—whereas English treats “homework” as a mass noun without a plural form.