Wir geben jedem Kind Brot.

the child

Breakdown of Wir geben jedem Kind Brot.

• das Brot: the bread
• wir: we
• geben: to give
• jedem: every

Questions & Answers about Wir geben jedem Kind Brot.

What is the subject of the sentence, and why is wir written with a lowercase w?

The subject is wir (we). It tells you who is doing the action of giving.

In German, wir is a personal pronoun and is not capitalized unless it is the first word of a sentence. So:

• Wir geben jedem Kind Brot. – at the beginning, capitalized because it’s the first word
• … und wir geben jedem Kind Brot. – in the middle, written with a lowercase w

Why is the verb geben in the form geben and not gebe or gibt?

German verbs change their ending depending on the subject (who is doing the action).

The verb is geben (to give). In the present tense:

• ich gebe – I give
• du gibst – you (singular, informal) give
• er/sie/es gibt – he/she/it gives
• wir geben – we give
• ihr gebt – you (plural, informal) give
• sie/Sie geben – they/you (formal) give

Since the subject is wir (we), the correct form is wir geben.

Why is it jedem Kind and not jedes Kind or jeden Kind?

jedem Kind is in the dative case, because it is the indirect object (the receiver of something).

• The noun Kind is neuter (das Kind).
• In the dative singular, the form of jed- for neuter is jedem.

Very simplified declension of jed- in the singular:

• Nominative: jedes Kind (each child – as subject)
• Accusative: jedes Kind (each child – as direct object)
• Dative: jedem Kind (to each child – indirect object)

Because the verb geben uses a dative for the person who receives something, you get jedem Kind.

What case is jedem Kind, and how do I know this?

jedem Kind is in the dative case.

You can tell because:

1. The verb geben typically takes:

   • a dative for the recipient (indirect object): jemandem (to someone)
   • an accusative for the thing given (direct object): etwas (something)

   Pattern: jemandem etwas geben = to give someone something

2. The forms jedem and Kind both show typical dative singular endings:

   • jedem ends in -em (masculine/neuter dative singular ending)
   • Kind adds - (no extra ending here, but the determiner already shows the case)

So jedem Kind = to each child, dative indirect object.

If the meaning is “each child,” why is Kind singular instead of plural (Kindern)?

German usually uses a singular noun with “jed-” to express each or every member of a group:

• jedes Kind – each child / every child
• jedem Kind – to each child / to every child

Even though you’re talking about more than one child overall, grammatically you treat it as distributing the action to each individual child, so the noun stays singular.

If you wanted simply “to all children,” you could say:

• Wir geben allen Kindern Brot. – We give (all) the children bread.

But jedem Kind emphasizes each individual child.

Why does Brot have no article? Why not ein Brot or das Brot?

Here, Brot is used as a mass noun (like “bread” in English), talking about bread in general, not a specific piece or loaf.

In German, with uncountable/mass nouns used in a general sense, you often omit the article:

• Wir trinken Wasser. – We drink water.
• Ich esse Brot. – I eat bread.

If you use an article, you change the meaning:

• ein Brot – a bread / a loaf of bread / a bread roll (depending on context)
• das Brot – the (specific) bread

So in Wir geben jedem Kind Brot, the idea is some bread or bread in general, not a specific loaf.

What case is Brot in this sentence?

Brot is in the accusative case as the direct object – it is the thing being given.

Pattern:

• Wir – subject (nominative)
• geben – verb
• jedem Kind – indirect object (dative: to whom?)
• Brot – direct object (accusative: what is being given?)

Because Brot is neuter, its nominative and accusative forms are identical (both just Brot), so you see no change in the form. The role is shown by the position and the other elements in the sentence.

Is the word order Wir geben jedem Kind Brot fixed, or can I move the parts around?

The given word order is the most natural and neutral:

• Wir geben jedem Kind Brot.
  subject – verb – indirect object (dative) – direct object (accusative)

In German, the usual order is:

Subject – Verb – (Time) – (Manner) – Indirect object (dative) – Direct object (accusative) – Place

You can change the order, but it may sound marked or emphasize something:

• Wir geben Brot jedem Kind. – possible, but sounds less natural; might emphasize Brot slightly.
• Jedem Kind geben wir Brot. – emphasizes jedem Kind (“to each child we give bread”).

The original sentence is what you’d normally say in a neutral context.

How would I negate this sentence correctly? Is it Wir geben jedem Kind nicht Brot?

The most natural negation is:

• Wir geben jedem Kind kein Brot. – We don’t give any bread to any child.

Key points:

• To negate a noun like Brot in German, you usually use kein
  • noun:
    
    • kein Brot – no bread / not any bread

Wir geben jedem Kind nicht Brot is technically possible but sounds odd and very marked, as if you were contrasting bread with something else:

• Wir geben jedem Kind nicht Brot, sondern Suppe. – We don’t give each child bread, but soup.

For a simple negative sentence, use kein Brot, not nicht Brot.

What is the gender of Kind, and how can I remember it?

Kind has the article das – it is neuter:

• das Kind – the child

Clues and patterns:

• Many German nouns ending in -chen or -lein (diminutives) are neuter: das Mädchen, das Häuschen, etc.
• Kind doesn’t have those endings, but semantically it’s similar (a smaller or younger person), and historically it behaves like that group.

For practice, always learn nouns with their article:

• das Kind, die Kinder – the child, the children

Then, case forms like jedem Kind (dative neuter) will make more sense.