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Der Mann ruft laut im Park.

Der Mann ruft laut im Park.
The man calls out loudly in the park.
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Questions & Answers about Der Mann ruft laut im Park.

Why is it Der Mann and not Den Mann or Dem Mann?

Der Mann is in the nominative case, because he is the subject of the sentence (the one doing the calling).

For the masculine noun Mann, the definite article changes like this:

  • Nominative (subject): der Mann
  • Accusative (direct object): den Mann
  • Dative (indirect object): dem Mann

Here, the man is doing the action, not receiving it, so we use der (nominative).

Why is it ruft and not rufen or ruftet or something else?

The verb is rufen (to call, to shout). In German, verbs are conjugated according to the subject.

For rufen in the present tense:

  • ich rufe
  • du rufst
  • er / sie / es ruft
  • wir rufen
  • ihr ruft
  • sie / Sie rufen

The subject is der Mann, which is er (he).
So we need the 3rd person singular: er ruft → der Mann ruft.

What is the difference between rufen and schreien?

Both can be translated as to shout, but there is a nuance:

  • rufen = to call, to shout (often with a purpose, e.g. calling someone’s name)

    • Der Mann ruft laut im Park. – He is calling loudly (maybe calling a child, a dog, etc.).
    • Er ruft seinen Sohn. – He calls his son.

  • schreien = to scream, to yell (often more emotional, angry, or very loud)

    • Das Kind schreit. – The child is screaming.
    • Der Mann schreit im Park. – The man is yelling (could sound more aggressive or intense).

You can replace ruft with schreit grammatically, but the feeling of the sentence changes.

Why is laut not changed or declined? Why not laute?

In Der Mann ruft laut im Park, laut is an adverb: it describes how he calls (loudly).

  • Adverbs in German do not change for gender, number, or case. They usually stay in their basic form: laut, schnell, langsam, etc.

When laut is used as an adjective before a noun, then it gets an ending:

  • eine laute Stimme – a loud voice
  • ein lauter Schrei – a loud scream

So:

  • Der Mann ruft laut. – The man calls loudly (adverb, no ending)
  • Der Mann hat eine laute Stimme. – The man has a loud voice (adjective, with ending)
What exactly does im Park mean? Why not in dem Park?

im is a contraction of in dem:

  • in (in) + dem (the, dative masculine/neuter) → im

So:

  • im Park = in dem Park = in the park

Both are grammatically correct, but in normal speech and writing, Germans almost always use the contracted form im Park, not in dem Park, unless they want special emphasis.

Why is Park in the dative case?

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

  • Dative (location, “Where is something?”)
    • Der Mann ruft im Park. – He is calling in the park (location, no movement).
  • Accusative (direction, “Where to?” / movement into)
    • Der Mann geht in den Park. – He is going into the park (movement to the inside).

In the sentence, the man is already in the park and calling there, so it’s a location → dative → im Park.

Can I say Der Mann ruft im Park laut instead? Is that wrong?

You can say Der Mann ruft im Park laut. It is grammatically correct.

Word order with adverbials (manner, place, time) is flexible. A common pattern is:

  • Manner (How?) → Place (Where?) → Time (When?)

So laut im Park (How? loudly, Where? in the park) is a very natural order.

  • Der Mann ruft laut im Park. – neutral, very natural.
  • Der Mann ruft im Park laut. – also possible; you might slightly emphasize im Park by placing it earlier.

Both are fine in everyday German. The original version just sounds a bit more standard.

Why are Mann and Park capitalized, but laut and ruft are not?

In German:

  • All nouns are capitalized: Mann, Park, Auto, Haus, etc.
  • Verbs and adjectives/adverbs are normally not capitalized: ruft, laut, schön, gehen, etc. (except at the beginning of a sentence, of course).

In the sentence:

  • Mann, Park → nouns → capitalized
  • ruft (verb), laut (adverb) → not capitalized
How do you pronounce the words in this sentence?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):

  • Der – like “dare” (but usually with a shorter vowel), [deːɐ̯]
  • Mann – like “mun” in “Monday” (short a sound, not like “mahn”), [man]

  • ruft –

    • r: a throaty sound (back of the mouth), not an English R
    • u: like “oo” in “food” but shorter
    • f: like English f
    • t: sharp t at the end
      → [ʁuːft] or [ruːft]

  • laut –

    • au: like “ow” in “cow”
    • final t clearly pronounced
      → [laʊ̯t]
  • im – like short “im” in “impossible”, [ɪm]
  • Park –
    • a like “u” in “cut” but a bit more open
    • final k pronounced clearly
      → [paʁk] or [paːʁk] (depending on accent)

Spoken together: Der Mann ruft laut im Park. – with a slight stress on Mann, ruft, Park.

What tense is ruft, and can it also mean something like “is calling”?

ruft is present tense (Präsens).

German present tense covers both:

  • English simple present:
    • Der Mann ruft laut im Park. – The man calls loudly in the park. (habitual / general)
  • English present progressive/continuous:
    • Der Mann ruft laut im Park. – The man is calling loudly in the park. (right now)

So German doesn’t need a separate form like “is calling”; ruft can express both, depending on context.

How would the sentence change in the past tense?

Two common past forms:

  1. Simple past (Präteritum) – more common in writing

    • Der Mann rief laut im Park.
      (rufen → rief)

  2. Present perfect (Perfekt) – very common in spoken German

    • Der Mann hat laut im Park gerufen.
    • auxiliary hat
      • past participle gerufen

Both mean roughly The man called/shouted loudly in the park.

How would the sentence look in the plural, like “The men call loudly in the park”?

You need to change both the noun and the verb:

  • Singular: Der Mann ruft laut im Park.
  • Plural: Die Männer rufen laut im Park.

Changes:

  • Mann → Männer (umlaut + -er ending)
  • Article: der → die (nominative plural)
  • Verb: ruft → rufen (3rd person plural)
How would you turn this sentence into a yes–no question in German?

For a yes–no question, the verb goes to the first position:

  • Statement: Der Mann ruft laut im Park.
  • Question: Ruft der Mann laut im Park? – Is the man calling loudly in the park?

So the structure is:

  1. Verb (conjugated)
  2. Subject
  3. Rest of the sentence (adverbs, prepositional phrases, etc.)