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Questions & Answers about Der Plan ist hilfreich.
Why is the article der used before Plan?
Because Plan is a masculine noun in German. In the nominative case (when it’s the subject), the masculine definite article is der.
What case is der Plan in this sentence?
It’s in the nominative case, since der Plan functions as the subject of the sentence.
Why doesn’t hilfreich have an ending like hilfreiche?
Here hilfreich is used predicatively (after the verb sein), and predicative adjectives are not declined in German—they stay in their base form.
How would the adjective change if it were attributive, as in “the helpful plan”?
An attributive adjective must agree in gender, case, and number with its noun. So you’d say der hilfreiche Plan (masculine, nominative, singular).
Why is the verb ist and not sind?
Because der Plan is singular, you use the third-person singular of sein, which is ist. sind is the form for wir, sie (they), or Sie (formal you).
How do you form a question from this sentence?
By inverting the subject and verb:
Ist der Plan hilfreich?
How do you make this sentence negative?
Insert nicht before the adjective:
Der Plan ist nicht hilfreich.
How can you specify for whom the plan is helpful?
You can use the dative pronoun:
Der Plan ist dir hilfreich.
Or use für + accusative:
Der Plan ist für dich hilfreich.
What’s the difference between hilfreich and nützlich?
Both can mean “useful/helpful,” but:
- hilfreich emphasizes providing help or assistance.
- nützlich stresses general usefulness or practicality.
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“How do German cases work?”
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.
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