Der Schulbus hält morgens direkt vor unserem Haus.

the house

Breakdown of Der Schulbus hält morgens direkt vor unserem Haus.

• unser: our
• vor: in front of
• morgens: in the morning

Questions & Answers about Der Schulbus hält morgens direkt vor unserem Haus.

Why is it Der Schulbus and not Den Schulbus or Dem Schulbus?

Der is in the nominative case, which is used for the subject of the sentence – the thing that performs the action.

• Der Schulbus = the school bus (subject; who/what is stopping?)
• Den Schulbus = accusative (direct object) – used if the bus were receiving an action.
• Dem Schulbus = dative (indirect object) – used if the bus were an indirect object, e.g. to the school bus.

In this sentence, the bus is doing the action (it stops), so it must be der (nominative), not den or dem.

What is hält? How is it related to the verb halten?

Hält is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb halten.

• Infinitive: halten (to stop, to hold)
• Stem vowel: a
• In 2nd and 3rd person singular, a changes to ä:
  • ich halte
  • du hältst
  • er/sie/es hält
  • wir halten
  • ihr haltet
  • sie halten

So der Schulbus hält = “the school bus stops / halts.”

This vowel change (a → ä) is common in many German verbs (fahren → du fährst, laufen → du läufst, etc.).