Breakdown of Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
der Hund
the dog
schlafen
to sleep
das Sofa
the sofa
Questions & Answers about Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.
Why is it der Hund and not another article like die or das?
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
Why is it schläft and not schlafen or schlaft?