Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.

The lecturer explains the plan of the exam to the students.

Breakdown of Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.

• der Plan: the plan
• die Prüfung: the exam
• erklären: to explain
• den: the; (masculine, accusative)
• der Studierende: the student
• der: the; (feminine, genitive)
• den: the; (plural, dative)
• der Dozent: the lecturer

Questions & Answers about Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.

Why is it Der Dozent and not Den Dozenten or Dem Dozenten?

Der Dozent is the subject of the sentence, so it must be in the nominative case.

The noun Dozent (lecturer) is a masculine noun that declines like this in the singular:

• Nominative: der Dozent (subject)
• Accusative: den Dozenten
• Dative: dem Dozenten
• Genitive: des Dozenten

Because the lecturer is the one doing the explaining, we need the nominative form der Dozent.

Why is it den Studierenden and not die Studierenden?

Because den Studierenden is in the dative plural, not the nominative or accusative plural.

The verb erklären usually follows the pattern:
jemandem etwas erklären = to explain something to someone

• jemandem → indirect object → dative
• etwas → direct object → accusative

So den Studierenden is the indirect object (to the students), and therefore must be dative plural.

• Nominative plural: die Studierenden (the students as subject)
• Dative plural: den Studierenden (to the students)

How do I know which noun is “the thing being explained” and which is “the person being explained to”?

From the verb erklären and the cases:

• Pattern: jemandem etwas erklären
  
  • jemandem = person, dative
  • etwas = thing, accusative

In the sentence:

• den Studierenden → dative plural → the people being explained to
• den Plan → accusative singular → the thing being explained

So:
Der Dozent (subject) erklärt den Studierenden (to whom? dative) den Plan (what? accusative) der Prüfung (of what? genitive).

Why is it den Plan and not dem Plan?

Because den Plan is the direct object (the thing being explained), so it must be in the accusative case.

Again, with erklären we use:

• dative for the person: den Studierenden (to the students)
• accusative for the thing: den Plan (the plan)

If you said dem Plan, that would make Plan dative, which would wrongly suggest that the plan is the person you are explaining something to.

What case is der Prüfung and why isn’t it die Prüfung?

Der Prüfung is genitive singular (feminine), showing possession or relationship: der Plan der Prüfung = the plan of the exam.

For feminine nouns like Prüfung, the genitive singular article is der, not die. So:

• Nominative: die Prüfung (the exam)
• Accusative: die Prüfung
• Dative: der Prüfung
• Genitive: der Prüfung

Here, Plan is the main noun, and der Prüfung depends on it in the genitive: der Plan (wessen?) der Prüfung (the plan of what? → of the exam).

Could I say der Plan von der Prüfung instead of der Plan der Prüfung?

You can say der Plan von der Prüfung, and people will understand you, but it is less elegant and more colloquial.

• der Plan der Prüfung → uses proper genitive, more standard and written style.
• der Plan von der Prüfung → uses von + dative, often more spoken and informal.

In written German, especially in academic or formal contexts, der Plan der Prüfung is preferred.

Why does erklärt come in the second position in the sentence?

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule (V2): the finite verb (here erklärt) must appear in second position in the clause.

In the sentence:

1. Der Dozent → first position (subject / first constituent)
2. erklärt → second position (finite verb)
3. den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung → rest of the sentence

Even if you move other parts around, the conjugated verb normally stays in position 2.

Can I change the order of den Studierenden and den Plan der Prüfung?

Yes. Both orders are grammatically possible, but the default is:

• Der Dozent erklärt den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.
  
  • dative (indirect object) before accusative (direct object).

You can also say:

• Der Dozent erklärt den Plan der Prüfung den Studierenden.

That version is still correct but sounds slightly more marked; it tends to put a bit more emphasis on den Plan der Prüfung. In everyday usage, dative-before-accusative is more common when both objects are noun phrases.

What exactly is Studierenden? How is it different from Studenten?

Studierende is a gender‑inclusive (gender‑neutral) way of saying students. It literally comes from the participle studierend (studying) and is used as a noun: die Studierenden = the people who are studying.

• Student / Studenten traditionally refers to male students, or to mixed groups in older usage.
• Studentin / Studentinnen refers to female students.
• Studierende includes all genders in one word.

In universities and official texts, Studierende is now very common.

How is Studierende declined? Why does it end in -en here?

Studierende behaves grammatically like an adjective used as a noun, so it takes adjective endings. In the plural (all genders), the endings look like this:

• Nominative plural: die Studierenden
• Accusative plural: die Studierenden
• Dative plural: den Studierenden
• Genitive plural: der Studierenden

In the dative plural, the article is den and the ending is -en, so we get den Studierenden.

What is a Dozent exactly? How is it different from Lehrer or Professor?

In German academic context:

• Dozent: a lecturer or university teacher (often not a full professor; can be a broad term for teaching staff at a university or college).
• Professor: a full professor with a specific academic title and usually a chair or professorship.
• Lehrer: a teacher, typically for schools (primary, secondary), not usually used for university staff.

So der Dozent corresponds best to lecturer or instructor in English.

How would the sentence change if we talked about only one student instead of several?

For one student (singular), you would usually say:

• Der Dozent erklärt dem Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.
  
  • dem Studierenden = dative singular (gender‑inclusive)

Or, using the traditional masculine/feminine forms:

• Masculine: Der Dozent erklärt dem Studenten den Plan der Prüfung.
• Feminine: Der Dozent erklärt der Studentin den Plan der Prüfung.

The structure stays the same: jemandem (dative) etwas (accusative) erklären.

How would the sentence look if there were several lecturers instead of just one?

If the subject is plural (lecturers), you change the subject and the verb form:

• Die Dozenten erklären den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung.

Changes:

• Der Dozent → Die Dozenten (nominative plural)
• erklärt → erklären (3rd person plural verb form)

The rest den Studierenden den Plan der Prüfung stays exactly the same.