Der Hund läuft durch das Gras im Garten.

The dog runs through the grass in the garden.

Breakdown of Der Hund läuft durch das Gras im Garten.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• der Hund: the dog
• der Garten: the garden
• durch: through
• laufen: to run
• das Gras: the grass

Questions & Answers about Der Hund läuft durch das Gras im Garten.

Why is it Der Hund and not Den Hund?

Der Hund is the subject of the sentence – the dog is the one doing the action (running).
In German, subjects take the nominative case.

• Masculine nominative singular article: der
• Masculine accusative singular article: den

Since Hund is the subject, it must be der Hund (nominative), not den Hund (accusative).

Why is it läuft and not laufen?

Laufen is the infinitive (to run, to walk/jog).
In German, the verb must be conjugated to match the subject.

For ich / du / er, sie, es / wir / ihr / sie:

• ich laufe
• du läufst
• er/sie/es läuft
• wir laufen
• ihr lauft
• sie/Sie laufen

The subject is der Hund = er (he/it), so you need er läuft.
That is why the sentence has läuft.

Why does laufen change to läuft with an umlaut?

Laufen is a strong (irregular) verb.
In the present tense, many strong verbs change their vowel in the stem for du and er/sie/es.

With laufen:

• infinitive: laufen
• stem: lauf-
• du-form: du läufst
• er/sie/es-form: er läuft

So the a changes to äu in du and er/sie/es forms. You simply have to learn these stem changes as part of the verb.

Why is it durch das Gras and not durch dem Gras?

The preposition durch always takes the accusative case in German.

Gras is neuter:

• nominative/accusative neuter singular: das Gras
• dative neuter singular: dem Gras

Because durch requires the accusative, you must say durch das Gras, not durch dem Gras.

How do I know that Gras is neuter so it takes das?

Unfortunately, in German the grammatical gender of many nouns is not predictable from their meaning.
Gras happens to be neuter, so its article in the singular (nominative and accusative) is das.

You generally have to learn new nouns together with their article, for example:

• das Gras (grass)
• der Hund (dog)
• der Garten (garden)

Over time, you will develop a feel for common patterns, but memorizing article + noun is essential.

Why is it im Garten and not in den Garten?

Im is a contraction of in dem:

• in
  • dem → im

In can take either dative (location, where something is) or accusative (direction, where something is going).

• Dative (location): im Garten = in dem Garten (in the garden)
• Accusative (direction): in den Garten (into the garden)

In this sentence, the dog is already in the garden running through the grass, so it describes a location, not a movement into the garden.
Therefore, dative is used: im Garten.

How do the cases work in this sentence?

The sentence has three important noun phrases, each in a different case:

• Der Hund – nominative (subject; who/what is doing the action?)
• durch das Gras – accusative (object of durch, which always takes accusative)
• im Garten (in dem Garten) – dative (location after in, because it answers where? not where to?)

So we have:
Nominative: der Hund
Accusative: das Gras
Dative: dem Garten (hidden inside im)

Why are Hund, Gras, and Garten capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

So you write:

• der Hund
• das Gras
• der Garten

This is a standard rule in German spelling and independent of emphasis or sentence position.

Could I say Der Hund rennt durch das Gras im Garten instead? Is there a difference between läuft and rennt?

Yes, you can say Der Hund rennt durch das Gras im Garten, and it is grammatically correct.

The nuance:

• laufen is quite general: to walk, run, jog, go on foot.
• rennen usually implies running fast / sprinting.

So rennt makes the dog’s movement sound faster and more energetic than läuft, which is more neutral.

Why is the verb läuft in the second position in the sentence?

In a main clause in German, the conjugated verb must be in the second position (the V2 rule).

Count chunks, not individual words:

1. Der Hund (first position: subject)
2. läuft (second position: verb)
3. durch das Gras im Garten (rest of the sentence)

No matter what comes first—subject, time, place, etc.—the main verb must stay in second position in a normal statement.

Could I move im Garten to the front of the sentence?

Yes, you can say:

Im Garten läuft der Hund durch das Gras.

This is still correct. The word order pattern changes, but the conjugated verb stays in second position:

1. Im Garten (first position: place)
2. läuft (second position: verb)
3. der Hund durch das Gras (rest)

German allows quite flexible word order as long as you respect the verb position rules.

What is the difference between durch and im in this sentence?

They express two different spatial relationships:

• durch das Gras – through the grass (movement passing through something)
• im Garten = in dem Garten – in the garden (location, where the action takes place)

So the dog moves through the grass, and this whole action happens in the garden. The prepositions show direction/path (durch) vs location (im/in).