Breakdown of Mein Bruder malt im Wohnzimmer.
mein
my
das Wohnzimmer
the living room
der Bruder
the brother
im
in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
Questions & Answers about Mein Bruder malt im Wohnzimmer.
Why is it Mein Bruder and not Meine Bruder?
Mein has to match the gender and case of the noun.
- Bruder is a masculine noun: der Bruder.
- In this sentence, Bruder is the subject, so it is in the nominative case.
- The nominative masculine form of mein is mein (without -e).
Some forms of mein (nominative):
- mein Bruder (masculine)
- meine Schwester (feminine)
- mein Kind (neuter)
- meine Brüder (plural)
So Mein Bruder is correct because Bruder is masculine singular in the nominative case.
Why is Bruder capitalized?
In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they stand in the sentence.
- Bruder is a noun, so it must be written with a capital B.
- The same applies to Wohnzimmer, Tisch, Auto, Freundin, etc.
Verbs (malt), adjectives (groß), and most other words are not capitalized unless they start a sentence or are part of a proper name.
What is the infinitive of malt, and how is it conjugated?