Das Kind spielt mit dem Strohhalm im Glas und macht kleine Blasen.

The child plays with the straw in the glass and makes little bubbles.

Breakdown of Das Kind spielt mit dem Strohhalm im Glas und macht kleine Blasen.

• das Kind: the child
• und: and
• spielen: to play
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• mit: with
• klein: small
• machen: to make
• das Glas: the glass
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• der Strohhalm: the straw
• die Blase: the bubble

Questions & Answers about Das Kind spielt mit dem Strohhalm im Glas und macht kleine Blasen.

Why is it das Kind and not der Kind or die Kind?

In German, every noun has a grammatical gender that you just have to learn:

• das Kind – neuter (nominative singular)
• der = masculine
• die = feminine (and also plural)

The word Kind happens to be neuter, so it always takes das in the nominative singular:

• das Kind (the child)
• ein Kind (a / one child)

For small children, German often uses the pronoun es (it), matching the neuter gender:

• Das Kind spielt. Es ist fröhlich.
  (The child is playing. It is happy.)

Once you talk about the child as a boy or girl, you might switch to er or sie based on biological gender, but the noun itself stays das Kind.

What tense is spielt, and how would you say “is playing” in German?

spielt is the simple present tense (3rd person singular) of spielen:

• das Kind spielt = the child plays / the child is playing

German usually uses the same present form for both English “plays” and “is playing”. Context decides whether it sounds more like a habitual action or something happening right now.

You normally do not say „ist am Spielen“ or „ist spielend“ for the English continuous; those forms exist but are much less common and often sound marked or regional. So:

• Das Kind spielt mit dem Strohhalm…
  can mean both
  “The child plays with the straw…” and
  “The child is playing with the straw…”

Why is it mit dem Strohhalm and not mit der / mit das / mit den Strohhalm?

Two things are going on:

1. The preposition mit always takes the dative case.
2. Strohhalm is a masculine noun.

The article for a masculine noun in the dative singular is dem:

• Nominative: der Strohhalm
• Accusative: den Strohhalm
• Dative: dem Strohhalm

Because mit always uses dative, you must say:

• mit dem Strohhalm = with the (drinking) straw

Forms like mit der Strohhalm, mit das Strohhalm, or mit den Strohhalm are grammatically wrong here.

What does Strohhalm literally mean, and is it always a drinking straw?

Strohhalm is a compound noun:

• Stroh = straw (the dried plant material)
• Halm = stalk / blade (of grass, cereal, etc.)

So literally, Strohhalm is something like “straw stalk.” Historically, people actually drank through real straw stalks.

In modern German, Strohhalm is the normal everyday word for a drinking straw, regardless of what it’s made of (plastic, paper, glass, metal). In some contexts you might also see:

• Trinkhalm – a bit more technical/neutral (literally “drinking stalk”)
• Trinkröhrchen – “little drinking tube”

But in normal conversation, Strohhalm is what you’ll hear most often.

Why is it im Glas instead of in dem Glas, and what case is Glas here?

im is simply a contracted form of in dem:

• in dem Glas → im Glas
• in dem Haus → im Haus

This contraction is very common and sounds more natural in spoken and written German.

The preposition in can take either accusative or dative, depending on meaning:

• Dative = location (where something is)
• Accusative = direction (where something is going)

Here we’re describing location (the straw is in the glass), so Glas is dative:

• in dem Glas / im Glas = in the glass (location)

What’s the difference between im Glas and ins Glas?

im Glas and ins Glas use the same preposition in, but with different cases and meanings:

• im Glas = in dem Glas → dative → where something is
  → in the glass (as a location)
• ins Glas = in das Glas → accusative → where something goes
  → into the glass (movement toward)

Examples:

• Der Strohhalm ist im Glas.
  The straw is in the glass. (location)

• Ich werfe Eiswürfel ins Glas.
  I throw ice cubes into the glass. (movement)

In your sentence, im Glas is correct because it describes where the straw is while the child is playing and making bubbles.

Why is it macht kleine Blasen and not macht kleine Blase?

Blase (singular) = bubble / bladder / blister
Blasen (plural) = bubbles

The sentence says the child makes many small bubbles, not just one:

• macht kleine Blasen = makes small bubbles
• macht eine kleine Blase = makes one small bubble

German doesn’t need a word like “some” here; the bare plural kleine Blasen already suggests more than one.

Why is the adjective ending kleine in kleine Blasen and not kleinen Blasen?

Look at the phrase:

• kleine Blasen

Key points:

1. Blasen is plural.
2. There is no article in front (no die, einige, viele, etc.).
3. kleine is an adjective before the noun.

In plural, when there is no article, adjectives take the ending -e in both nominative and accusative:

• kleine Blasen – small bubbles (subject or object)
• alte Bücher – old books
• rote Äpfel – red apples

You would use -en (kleinen) if you had a definite article or certain determiners:

• die kleinen Blasen – the small bubbles
• diese kleinen Blasen – these small bubbles
• meine kleinen Blasen – my small bubbles

So macht kleine Blasen is correct: accusative plural, no article → kleine.

Why are Kind, Strohhalm, Glas, and Blasen all capitalized?

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

So in your sentence:

• Kind – noun (child)
• Strohhalm – noun (straw)
• Glas – noun (glass)
• Blasen – noun (bubbles)

Adjectives and verbs stay lowercase, unless they’re at the beginning of the sentence or turned into nouns (e.g., das Spielen, the playing). Here:

• das, mit, im, und, macht, kleine
  are all lowercase because they aren’t nouns and don’t start the sentence.

Capitalizing nouns is a fixed orthographic rule in German.

Can I change the order of mit dem Strohhalm and im Glas? For example: Das Kind spielt im Glas mit dem Strohhalm…?

Yes, you can change the order of those prepositional phrases. Both of these are grammatically correct:

1. Das Kind spielt mit dem Strohhalm im Glas und macht kleine Blasen.
2. Das Kind spielt im Glas mit dem Strohhalm und macht kleine Blasen.

Both mean essentially the same thing: the child is playing with the straw that is in the glass and making bubbles.

Nuance:

• Version 1 (mit dem Strohhalm im Glas) slightly groups Strohhalm and im Glas together more strongly, as if saying “with the straw that’s in the glass.”
• Version 2 may sound a bit less typical, but is still fine.

German word order in the middle field (between the conjugated verb and the end of the clause) is somewhat flexible, and prepositional phrases like these can be rearranged for emphasis or rhythm.

How do you pronounce Strohhalm and Blasen?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA):

• Strohhalm → /ˈʃtroːhalm/

  • St at the beginning of a syllable is pronounced like “sht”: st → /ʃt/
  • roh has a long o sound: oː
  • The h after o shows that the vowel is long; the h itself is not strongly pronounced.
  • Final -lm is pronounced, but the l and m are quickly together: stroh-halm.

• Blasen → /ˈblaːzən/

  • Bla- has a long a: aː
  • s between vowels often sounds like English z: Blasen → like BLA-zen.
  • Final -en is like a weak -uhn.

Very rough English approximations:

• Strohhalm ≈ SHTROH-halm
• Blasen ≈ BLAH-zen

Could I also say Das Kind macht Blasen im Glas? Is that different from spielt mit dem Strohhalm im Glas und macht kleine Blasen?

Yes, you can say:

• Das Kind macht Blasen im Glas.

This is shorter and fully correct. It just means “The child is making bubbles in the glass.”

Differences:

• spielt mit dem Strohhalm tells you how the child is playing – using the straw.
• macht kleine Blasen emphasizes that the bubbles are small.
• macht Blasen im Glas is more general: it doesn’t say what tool is used (straw, spoon, mouth, etc.) and doesn’t mention the size of the bubbles.

So your original sentence is more detailed and paints a clearer picture; the shorter one is less specific but still natural.