Word
Die Kinder sitzen ruhig im Klassenzimmer.
Meaning
The children sit quietly in the classroom.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Die Kinder sitzen ruhig im Klassenzimmer.
das Kind
the child
sitzen
to sit
im
in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
das Klassenzimmer
the classroom
Questions & Answers about Die Kinder sitzen ruhig im Klassenzimmer.
What does die mean here, and why isn’t it das Kinder?
Die here is the definite article in the nominative plural: die Kinder = the children.
In German, die can mean:
- feminine singular nominative/accusative: die Frau (the woman)
- all plurals nominative/accusative: die Kinder, die Männer, die Frauen (the children, the men, the women)
The singular of Kinder is das Kind (neuter), but in the plural, all genders use die:
- das Kind → die Kinder (the child → the children)
- der Hund → die Hunde (the dog → the dogs)
- die Frau → die Frauen (the woman → the women)
So it’s die Kinder because it’s plural, not because of gender.
Why is it Kinder and not Kindern?