Learn Hardcore German: Meine Kinder lieben die Hühner auf dem Bauernhof, weil sie so lustig aussehen. - My children love the chickens on the farm because they look so funny.

Kind is the singular (das Kind – “the child”) and Kinder is the plural (“children”).
Here, we are talking about more than one child, so we need the plural noun Kinder.

The possessive mein (“my”) changes depending on gender, number, and case. In the nominative plural, it becomes meine:

mein Kind = my child (singular, nominative)
meine Kinder = my children (plural, nominative)

So Meine Kinder is “my children” as the subject of the sentence.

Why is the verb lieben and not mögen? Aren’t both “to like”?

German makes a distinction similar to English:

lieben = to love (stronger feeling, often for people, pets, very dear things)
mögen = to like (weaker, more general)

In this sentence, Meine Kinder lieben die Hühner suggests the kids really love the chickens, not just “kind of like” them.

You can say:

Meine Kinder mögen die Hühner. = My children like the chickens.

It’s grammatically fine but expresses a weaker emotion.

Why is it die Hühner and not die Hühns or something like that? How does the plural of Huhn work?

The singular is das Huhn (“the chicken”). Its plural is irregular:

das Huhn → die Hühner

What changes?

The vowel u takes an Umlaut: u → ü
The plural ending is -er

So: Huhn → Hühner.
That’s why we say die Hühner for “the chickens.”

Why is the article die used with Hühner?

In the plural, all genders use die in the nominative and accusative:

Singular:
- der Hund (masc.)
- die Katze (fem.)
- das Huhn (neut.)
Plural:
- die Hunde
- die Katzen
- die Hühner

Here, die Hühner is the direct object (accusative plural), so we get die even though Huhn is neuter in the singular.

What case is die Hühner in, and how can I tell?

Die Hühner is in the accusative plural.

We can see this from the sentence structure:

Meine Kinder = subject (who is doing the action?) → nominative plural
lieben = verb
die Hühner = object (whom/what do they love?) → accusative plural

In German, the direct object of most action verbs like lieben, sehen, haben is in the accusative.
Since nominative plural and accusative plural both use die, you often identify the case by function in the sentence, not just by form.

Why is it auf dem Bauernhof and not auf den Bauernhof or im Bauernhof?

The preposition auf can take:

Dative = location (where something is)
Accusative = direction (movement to a place)

Here, the sentence describes a location (“on the farm”), not movement to the farm. So we use the dative:

auf dem Bauernhof = on/at the farm (dative = location)
auf den Bauernhof = onto the farm (accusative = movement towards)

Bauernhof is masculine (der Bauernhof) so:

Dative masculine: dem Bauernhof → auf dem Bauernhof

You couldn’t normally say im Bauernhof here because that would literally mean “inside the farm (building/complex),” and the usual fixed phrase for “on the farm” is auf dem Bauernhof.

What does Bauernhof literally mean, and why is it one word?

Bauernhof is a compound noun:

der Bauer = the farmer
der Hof = courtyard, yard, farmyard, estate

So literally, Bauernhof is something like “farmer’s yard,” which in English we call a farm.

German very often combines nouns into a single long word instead of using two separate words like English. That’s why Bauernhof is one word, not Bauern Hof.

Why is there a comma before weil, and what does weil do to the word order?

In German, subordinate clauses (dependent clauses) are usually separated from the main clause by a comma, and the conjunction often changes the word order.

weil = because
It introduces a subordinate clause and sends the finite verb to the end of that clause.

In the example:

Main clause: Meine Kinder lieben die Hühner auf dem Bauernhof,
Subordinate clause: weil sie so lustig aussehen.

In the weil-clause, the conjugated verb aussehen goes to the end:

Not: weil sie sehen so lustig aus.
Correct: weil sie so lustig aussehen.

Why does aussehen come at the very end of weil sie so lustig aussehen?

Aussehen (“to look, to appear”) is a separable verb:

Prefix: aus-
Base verb: sehen

In a main clause, separable verbs split:

Sie sehen lustig aus. = They look funny.

In a subordinate clause with weil, the entire verb (prefix + base) goes, as a unit, to the end of the clause:

weil sie so lustig aussehen.

So the rules are:

Main clause: finite verb in position 2, prefix at the end
Subordinate clause with weil: whole conjugated verb (with prefix) at the very end

What does sie refer to in weil sie so lustig aussehen? The children or the chickens?

Formally, sie could refer to either Kinder or Hühner, because both are plural and grammatically possible.

You figure it out from context and logic:

Kinder (children) can also look funny.
Hühner (chickens) are typically what “look funny” in this context, and they’re right next to the clause.

So in natural interpretation, sie refers to die Hühner:

weil sie (die Hühner) so lustig aussehen = because they (the chickens) look so funny.

If there were any ambiguity in a longer text, German could repeat the noun for clarity, e.g. weil die Hühner so lustig aussehen.

Why is it sie so lustig aussehen and not sie sehen so lustig aus?

Both word orders exist, but in different types of clauses:

Sie sehen so lustig aus. → main clause (normal statement)
weil sie so lustig aussehen. → subordinate clause (introduced by weil)

In a weil-clause, the conjugated verb must go to the end. Since aussehen is separable, the whole conjugated form aussehen (3rd person plural) appears as one unit at the end:

Main clause: Sie sehen so lustig aus.
Subordinate clause: weil sie so lustig aussehen.

So “weil sie sehen so lustig aus” is incorrect word order.

What is the function of so in so lustig? Does it mean “so” like “therefore”?

No. Here so is an intensifier, similar to English “so” or “really”:

lustig = funny
so lustig = so funny / really funny / very funny

It does not have the meaning of “so” as in “therefore” or “thus.” That meaning is expressed in German by words like also, deshalb, deswegen, etc.

So weil sie so lustig aussehen = “because they look so funny.”

Why is Kinder capitalized? Is it always like that?

Yes. In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of their position in the sentence.

Kinder, Hühner, Bauernhof — all nouns → capitalized
Adjectives and verbs are not capitalized (unless at the beginning of a sentence or in special cases).

So you always write:

die Kinder, das Huhn, der Bauernhof

Can I change the word order to emphasize auf dem Bauernhof?

Yes, German word order is flexible, especially with adverbial phrases. You could say, for example:

Auf dem Bauernhof lieben meine Kinder die Hühner, weil sie so lustig aussehen.

This emphasizes “on the farm”, but the basic grammar stays the same:

Auf dem Bauernhof (adverbial phrase)
lieben (verb in 2nd position in the main clause)
meine Kinder (subject)
die Hühner (object)

The weil-clause remains unchanged, with the verb aussehen at the end.