Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.

The government promotes renewable energies.

Breakdown of Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.

• die Regierung: the government
• die Energie: the energy
• erneuerbar: renewable
• fördern: to promote

Questions & Answers about Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.

Why is it die Regierung and not der Regierung or das Regierung?

Regierung is grammatically feminine in German, so it always uses the article die in the nominative singular.

• Nominative singular feminine: die Regierung
• Accusative singular feminine: die Regierung
• Dative singular feminine: der Regierung
• Genitive singular feminine: der Regierung

In the sentence Die Regierung fördert …, die Regierung is the subject, so it must be in the nominative case, which for feminine nouns is die.

Der Regierung would be dative or genitive, and das Regierung is simply incorrect because Regierung is not a neuter noun.

How do I know that Die Regierung is the subject of the sentence?

In a simple German main clause, the typical word order is:

Subject – Verb – (rest of the sentence)

Here we have:

• Die Regierung → noun phrase in nominative, likely the subject
• fördert → conjugated verb
• erneuerbare Energien → object

So Die Regierung comes before the conjugated verb and is in nominative case. That combination almost always indicates the subject in a basic declarative sentence:

• Die Regierung (subject) fördert (verb) erneuerbare Energien (object).

What is the infinitive of fördert, and which tense and person is it?

The infinitive is fördern.

fördert is:

• tense: present
• person/number: 3rd person singular (er/sie/es)

Conjugation of fördern in the present:

• ich fördere
• du förderst
• er/sie/es fördert
• wir fördern
• ihr fördert
• sie/Sie fördern

So Die Regierung fördert … corresponds to English The government promotes/supports … or The government is promoting/supporting … (German uses the same present form for both simple and progressive meanings).

What exactly does fördern mean here, and how is it different from unterstützen?

In this context, fördern means to promote, to encourage, or to support by providing help, resources, or incentives.

Typical nuances:

• fördern

  • Often implies active encouragement, funding, resources, or policy measures.
  • Example idea: subsidies, tax benefits, programs.

• unterstützen

  • More general to support; can be emotional, practical, or political support.
  • Does not automatically imply funding or structured programs.

So:

• Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.

  • The government promotes renewable energies (e.g., through subsidies, laws, incentives).

• Die Regierung unterstützt die Nutzung erneuerbarer Energien.

  • The government supports the use of renewable energies (more general; could include political or moral support).

They overlap, but fördern tends to sound more like active promotion / fostering growth.

Why is it erneuerbare Energien and not erneuerbaren Energien?

The form erneuerbare is determined by:

1. Case: Energien is the direct object → accusative.
2. Number: Energien is plural.
3. Article situation: there is no article (no die, keine, meine, etc.).

For adjectives without an article, German uses strong endings. For plural accusative with no article, the ending is -e:

• plural nominative: erneuerbare Energien
• plural accusative: erneuerbare Energien

So erneuerbare Energien is correct.

You would get erneuerbaren with a different determiner or case, for example:

• die erneuerbaren Energien (with die → weak ending -en)
• mit erneuerbaren Energien (dative plural → -en)

Which case is erneuerbare Energien, and how can I tell?

Erneuerbare Energien is in the accusative plural.

You can tell because:

1. It is what is being promoted → it answers “promotes what?” → direct object → accusative.
2. The verb fördern is a typical transitive verb, which takes an accusative object.
3. For many feminine and plural nouns, nominative and accusative look the same in form, so the function in the sentence is the main clue.

Structure:

• Subject (nominative): Die Regierung
• Verb: fördert
• Direct object (accusative): erneuerbare Energien

Why is Energien plural here, and how does that compare to English?

Energie (singular) → Energien (plural).

In German, it is common to talk about verschiedene erneuerbare Energien (different kinds of renewable energies), such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass, etc. That is why the plural Energien is very natural.

In English, you often say renewable energy (uncountable), even when you mean different sources. Both ways are possible in English, but renewable energy (singular) is more common.

So:

• German: erneuerbare Energien (plural)
• English: usually renewable energy, sometimes renewable energies

Could the sentence also be Die Regierung unterstützt erneuerbare Energien, and would that change the meaning a lot?

Yes, you can say:

• Die Regierung unterstützt erneuerbare Energien.

The general idea is similar, but the nuance shifts slightly:

• fördert: emphasizes active promotion, encouragement, incentives, financial support, policy measures.
• unterstützt: broader support, possibly less specific about concrete measures.

In many contexts, both could be translated as supports, but fördert sounds a bit more like promotes/fosters their development.

Can I change the word order to Erneuerbare Energien fördert die Regierung?

Yes, grammatically that is correct:

• Erneuerbare Energien fördert die Regierung.

However, the emphasis changes:

• Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.

  • Neutral word order; focus on what the government does.

• Erneuerbare Energien fördert die Regierung.

  • Focuses on renewable energies; it sounds like you are contrasting them with something else:
    • e.g. Erneuerbare Energien fördert die Regierung, nicht fossile Brennstoffe.
      (It is renewable energies that the government promotes, not fossil fuels.)

German allows flexible word order because cases mark roles, but the neutral, most common option is subject–verb–object: Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.

How do I pronounce fördert, especially the ö and the ending -rt?

Pronunciation tips:

• ö: similar to the vowel in English “bird” (in many accents) or “hurt”, but with rounded lips.
  • Shape your mouth as for “o”, but say something like “e”.
• för: roughly like “fur” (British-ish) with rounded lips.
• dert:
  • d as in English “day”
  • er here is a reduced sound, often like a short “uh” or “ɐ” in German
  • t is a clear [t] sound at the end

Rough approximation: FÖR-dɐt (two syllables).

Is die here always just “the”, or can it mean “this” or “that”?

In this sentence, die is the definite article and corresponds to “the”:

• Die Regierung → The government

German uses dies(e/r/s) for “this” and “that” in a more literal sense:

• Diese Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energien.
  • This/that (particular) government promotes renewable energies.

Context can make die Regierung refer to a specific government everyone knows about (e.g., “our current government”), but grammatically it is just “the government”, not “this government”.

Could I say Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energie (singular), and how would that sound?

You can say:

• Die Regierung fördert erneuerbare Energie.

This is grammatically correct and would usually be understood as a more general, uncountable concept: renewable energy in general.

Nuance:

• erneuerbare Energie (singular, uncountable):

  • Focus on the concept of renewable energy as a whole.

• erneuerbare Energien (plural):

  • Slightly stronger focus on different types of renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.).
  • More common in policy and technical contexts in German.

Both are possible; erneuerbare Energien is very typical in political and environmental discussions.