Der Pausenhof der Schule ist groß, und die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander.

The schoolyard of the school is large, and the children run loudly all over the place.

Breakdown of Der Pausenhof der Schule ist groß, und die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander.

• sein: to be
• das Kind: the child
• und: and
• die Schule: the school
• groß: large
• laut: loudly
• rennen: to run
• der: the; (feminine, genitive)
• der Pausenhof: the schoolyard
• durcheinander: all over the place

Questions & Answers about Der Pausenhof der Schule ist groß, und die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander.

What exactly does Pausenhof mean? Is it just the same as "playground"?

Pausenhof literally means “break yard” and refers specifically to the school yard where pupils spend their break times.

Nuances:

• Pausenhof = the area in/next to a school where students go during school breaks.
• It’s close to “schoolyard” in English.
• It is not any random playground in a park; that would usually be Spielplatz.

So:

• Pausenhof – schoolyard during breaks
• Schulhof – very similar, also “schoolyard”
• Spielplatz – general “playground” (often with equipment like swings, slide, etc.)

Why is it Der Pausenhof der Schule and not something like von der Schule?

Der Pausenhof der Schule uses the genitive case to show possession or belonging:

• der Pausenhof – nominative masculine singular (the subject of the sentence)
• der Schule – genitive feminine singular, meaning “of the school”

So Der Pausenhof der Schule literally means “the break yard of the school.”

You could say Der Pausenhof von der Schule, but:

• It sounds more colloquial and less elegant.
• In written German, the genitive (der Schule) is preferred for this kind of relationship.

Pattern:

• der Hof des Hauses – the yard of the house
• der Pausenhof der Schule – the school’s break yard

Why is groß used without an ending here (not großer, große, etc.)?

In Der Pausenhof der Schule ist groß, the adjective groß comes after the verb sein (ist). This is called a predicate adjective.

Rules:

• Before a noun: the adjective gets an ending.
  
  • Der große Pausenhof – the big schoolyard
• After sein, werden, bleiben: no ending.
  
  • Der Pausenhof ist groß. – The schoolyard is big.

So:

• Attributive (before a noun): ein großer Pausenhof, der große Pausenhof.
• Predicative (after sein): Der Pausenhof ist groß.

Why is there a comma before und in this sentence?

In German, you must put a comma before und if it connects two main clauses (two independent clauses with their own subject and finite verb).

Here you have:

1. Der Pausenhof der Schule ist groß – main clause (subject: Der Pausenhof der Schule, verb: ist)
2. die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander – main clause (subject: die Kinder, verb: rennen)

Since und connects two full clauses, German spelling rules require a comma:

• Der Pausenhof der Schule ist groß, und die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander.

If und just connects words or short phrases (not full clauses), there is usually no comma:

What’s the difference between rennen and laufen?

Both can involve moving quickly on foot, but there are nuances:

• rennen

  • Stronger sense of racing / running fast / dashing.
  • More like “to run (fast)”.
  • Often suggests speed, excitement, or chaos: Die Kinder rennen – the children are tearing around / running about quickly.

• laufen

  • Very general: to walk, to run, or to go on foot, depending on context.
  • In everyday speech in Germany, laufen often means “to run” too:
    
    • Ich laufe zur Schule. – I’m running to school. (or going on foot)

In this sentence, rennen fits well because it suggests kids moving around quickly and wildly in the schoolyard.

What does durcheinander add to the meaning of rennen?

Durcheinander literally combines durch (through) + einander (each other), and as an adverb it means something like:

• in a confused way,
• all mixed up,
• in all directions / all over the place.

The phrase durcheinander rennen means “to run around all over the place, in a chaotic way”.

So:

• Die Kinder rennen. – The children are running.
• Die Kinder rennen durcheinander. – The children are running around in all directions / wildly / in confusion.

In the given sentence, laut durcheinander rennen suggests noisy, chaotic movement everywhere.

Why is laut placed after rennen, and why doesn’t it get an ending?

Here, laut is used as an adverb, not as an attributive adjective.

• It describes how the children run: they run noisily / loudly.

In German, when an adjective is used as an adverb (to modify a verb), it usually does not get an ending:

• Die Kinder rennen laut. – The children run loudly.
• Er spricht leise. – He speaks softly.
• Sie lacht laut. – She laughs loudly.

So in Die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander, both laut and durcheinander modify rennen, and neither takes any ending.

Why is Kinder capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.

• Kinder is a noun (plural of Kind, “child”), so it must be capitalized:
  • die Kinder – the children

This is a general rule:

• der Hund, die Stadt, das Auto, die Kinder, der Pausenhof, die Schule – all capitalized because they’re nouns.

Could I change the word order, like … und die Kinder rennen durcheinander laut or … und laut rennen die Kinder durcheinander?

You have some flexibility, but not everything sounds natural:

1. … und die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander. – original; completely natural.
2. … und die Kinder rennen durcheinander laut. – grammatically possible, but unusual; laut at the very end sounds a bit awkward in this context.
3. … und laut rennen die Kinder durcheinander.
   
   • Still grammatical.
   • Sounds more poetic or stylized, giving extra emphasis to laut (“noisily, they run around all over the place”).

Main restriction: in a main clause, the finite verb (here rennen) must be in second position (the V2 rule). You can move other elements around for emphasis, but the verb stays in that second slot.

Why is it die Kinder rennen and not rennen die Kinder?

In a normal statement (declarative sentence) with no special emphasis:

• The basic order is Subject – Verb – …
  
  • Die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander.

If you say Rennen die Kinder laut durcheinander?, that becomes a yes/no question:

• Rennen die Kinder laut durcheinander? – Are the children running around loudly?

So:

• Die Kinder rennen … – statement.
• Rennen die Kinder …? – question.

The verb in a main clause is typically second (V2 rule). In questions without a question word, the verb comes first, then the subject.

How does the verb change between das Kind and die Kinder?

Verb endings change with singular vs plural:

• Singular: das Kind rennt – the child runs.
• Plural: die Kinder rennen – the children run.

Pattern for rennen (present tense):

• ich renne – I run
• du rennst – you (singular, informal) run
• er / sie / es rennt – he / she / it runs
• wir rennen – we run
• ihr rennt – you (plural, informal) run
• sie rennen – they run / you (formal) run

In the sentence, die Kinder is 3rd person plural, so the correct form is rennen.

Are there other common words for Pausenhof, and are they all interchangeable?

Yes, there are a couple of close synonyms, but with slight nuances:

• Pausenhof
  
  • Very specifically: the school yard used during breaks.
• Schulhof
  
  • General schoolyard; can be used similarly to Pausenhof.
  • In many contexts, Pausenhof and Schulhof are interchangeable.
• Spielplatz
  
  • A playground in general (often in parks or housing areas, with swings, slide, etc.), not necessarily part of a school.

In the given sentence, Der Pausenhof der Schule emphasizes the school break aspect.
You could also say Der Schulhof ist groß, und die Kinder rennen laut durcheinander, which would be understood in almost the same way.