Breakdown of Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.
Questions & Answers about Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.
In German, every noun has a grammatical gender:
- der = masculine (nominative singular)
- die = feminine (nominative singular, and all plural)
- das = neuter (nominative singular)
Hund is a masculine noun, so in the nominative case (as the subject of the sentence), it takes der:
- der Hund = the dog (subject)
If it were feminine or neuter, you’d see:
- die Katze (feminine) – the cat
- das Pferd (neuter) – the horse
Schlafen is the infinitive to sleep. German verbs change form depending on the subject:
- ich schlafe – I sleep
- du schläfst – you (singular, informal) sleep
- er/sie/es schläft – he/she/it sleeps
- wir schlafen – we sleep
- ihr schlaft – you (plural, informal) sleep
- sie/Sie schlafen – they / you (formal) sleep
The subject der Hund is third person singular (he/it), so you need schläft.
The umlaut (ä) appears in some forms of schlafen (du schläfst, er/sie/es schläft) but not in the infinitive schlafen or in wir schlafen, ihr schlaft, sie schlafen.
Auf is a “two-way” preposition. It can take:
- dative (location: where?)
- accusative (direction/motion: to where?)
In this sentence, the dog is just lying on the sofa (no movement to a place), so it’s about location → dative.
Sofa is a neuter noun:
- Nominative/Accusative singular: das Sofa
- Dative singular: dem Sofa
So:
- Location: auf dem Sofa = on the sofa (where?)
- Movement: auf das Sofa = onto the sofa (to where?)
Unfortunately, you usually have to learn the gender with the noun:
- das Sofa – neuter
- Dative: dem Sofa
- Plural: die Sofas, dative plural: den Sofas
There are some patterns (e.g. many nouns ending in -chen, -lein, -ment, -um are neuter), but Sofa is mainly just vocabulary you need to memorize as das Sofa.
A good habit: always learn nouns with their article, e.g. das Sofa, der Hund, die Katze.
Standard German main clauses follow this basic pattern:
- The conjugated verb is in second position.
- The other parts (subject, objects, adverbials) can move around more freely.
In your sentence:
- Position 1: Der Hund (subject)
- Position 2: schläft (finite verb)
- Rest: auf dem Sofa
You can move the prepositional phrase to the front for emphasis, but the finite verb must stay in second place:
- Auf dem Sofa schläft der Hund. – On the sofa, the dog is sleeping.
Both are correct; the difference is mainly emphasis.
In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.
- Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.
- Auf dem Sofa schläft der Hund.
Even in the middle of a sentence, you’ll see capitals for nouns:
- Ich sehe einen Hund auf einem Sofa.
So capitalization is an important clue for recognizing nouns.
Normally, no. In German, you usually need an article or another determiner:
- auf dem Sofa – on the (specific) sofa
- auf einem Sofa – on a sofa
- auf meinem Sofa – on my sofa
You would not say *auf Sofa in standard German. There are a few set phrases where bare nouns appear, but this isn’t one of them.
- auf dem Sofa = on the sofa (on its surface; sitting/lying on it)
- im Sofa = in the sofa (inside it, literally inside the furniture)
Im is the contraction of in dem (in + dative). It refers to being inside an enclosed space. So im Sofa would be something like a lost remote or coins stuck inside the cushions, not the dog lying on it.
You need plural forms for both Hund and Sofa, and the plural verb:
- die Hunde – the dogs (nominative plural)
- schlafen – sleep (3rd person plural)
- die Sofas – the sofas (nominative/accusative plural)
- Dative plural of die Sofas is den Sofas
Location again → dative:
- Die Hunde schlafen auf den Sofas.
= The dogs are sleeping on the sofas.
It can mean both. German has only one present tense:
- Der Hund schläft.
Depending on context, it can translate as:
- “The dog sleeps.” (general/habitual)
- “The dog is sleeping.” (right now)
English distinguishes between simple present and present continuous; German doesn’t, so you choose the English version that best fits the situation.