Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich.

The teacher explains the difficult topic in a very vivid way.

Breakdown of Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich.

• sehr: very
• schwierig: difficult
• das Thema: the topic
• erklären: to explain
• der Lehrer: the teacher
• bildlich: vivid

Questions & Answers about Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich.

What grammatical cases are der Lehrer and das schwierige Thema in, and why?

Der Lehrer is in the nominative case and das schwierige Thema is in the accusative case.

• Der Lehrer is the subject: the one doing the explaining. Subjects in German take the nominative.
• Das schwierige Thema is the direct object: the thing being explained. Direct objects in German normally take the accusative.

So we have:

• Wer? / Was? erklärt? → Der Lehrer → nominative
• Wen? / Was? erklärt der Lehrer? → das schwierige Thema → accusative

Why is it das schwierige Thema and not den schwierigen Thema?

Because Thema is neuter in German.

• Nominative singular: das Thema
• Accusative singular (for neuter): das Thema – neuter has the same form in nominative and accusative.

So in the accusative singular:

• masculine: den Lehrer
• feminine: die Frau
• neuter: das Thema

You only use den with masculine singular nouns in the accusative, not with neuter ones.

Why does schwierige end in -e here? How do the adjective endings work?

In das schwierige Thema, schwierige is an adjective before a noun, after a definite article (das). That triggers the weak declension of adjectives.

For neuter singular with a definite article:

• Nominative: das schwierige Thema
• Accusative: das schwierige Thema

The pattern with definite articles in singular is:

• der kluge Lehrer (nom. masc.)
• den klugen Lehrer (acc. masc.)
• die kluge Frau (nom./acc. fem.)
• das schwierige Thema (nom./acc. neut.)

So the -e on schwierige is just the regular weak adjective ending after das with a neuter noun in nominative or accusative singular.

What part of speech is bildlich in this sentence, and how is that different from using it as an adjective?

In Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich, bildlich is an adverb. It describes how the teacher explains the topic: in a vivid, image-based way.

As an adverb, bildlich:

• does not change its form (no endings),
• modifies the verb erklärt.

As an adjective, bildlich would describe a noun and take endings, e.g.:

• eine bildliche Darstellung (a pictorial / visual representation)
• in bildlicher Sprache (in figurative language)

Here we are not describing a noun; we are describing the manner of explaining, so bildlich is adverbial.

What does bildlich actually mean here? Is it like “vividly” or “graphic”?

In this sentence, bildlich means something like:

• in a very vivid way,
• with images,
• using concrete examples and pictures,
• illustratively.

It can overlap with English vivid(ly) or pictorial(ly), depending on context.

Be careful: in some English contexts graphic can suggest “gory” or “sexually explicit”. Bildlich in German usually does not have that meaning. It is more about:

• using mental pictures, metaphors, examples,
• making something easy to imagine.

Why is the word order erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich? Could I say erklärt sehr bildlich das schwierige Thema instead?

The given order is:
Verb – direct object – adverb of manner

• erklärt (verb)
• das schwierige Thema (direct object)
• sehr bildlich (adverbial of manner)

This is the most natural order in neutral, spoken and written German: direct object usually comes before adverbs of manner.

Er erklärt sehr bildlich das schwierige Thema is not wrong, but it sounds marked and slightly awkward in standard word order. You might hear similar patterns if a speaker is emphasizing sehr bildlich, but the default is:

Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich.

So: yes, it is possible to move it, but the original version is the normal, neutral one.

Why do we have sehr before bildlich? Can we just say bildlich on its own?

Sehr is an intensifier meaning very. It strengthens the adverb bildlich.

• bildlich → in a visual / vivid / illustrative way
• sehr bildlich → very visual / very vivid / highly illustrative

You can say Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema bildlich. That would simply state that he explains it in an illustrative/vivid way, without adding any intensity.

Adding sehr suggests that he does this to a high degree: he really makes strong use of images, examples, and vivid explanations.

What tense and person is erklärt, and how do the main forms of erklären look?

Erklärt here is:

• 3rd person singular,
• present tense,
• of the verb erklären (to explain).

A short overview of erklären in the present tense:

• ich erkläre
• du erklärst
• er / sie / es erklärt
• wir erklären
• ihr erklärt
• sie erklären

Perfect tense (with haben):

• ich habe erklärt
• du hast erklärt
• er / sie / es hat erklärt
• usw.

So Der Lehrer erklärt ... = The teacher explains / is explaining ... in the present.

Why are Lehrer and Thema capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of their position in the sentence.

• Lehrer = teacher (noun) → capitalized
• Thema = topic / subject (noun) → capitalized

Adjectives and verbs normally are not capitalized (except at the beginning of a sentence or in titles):

• schwierige (adjective) → lower-case
• erklärt (verb) → lower-case
• bildlich (adverb/adjective form) → lower-case

So the capitalization here simply follows the general rule: every noun gets a capital letter.

How would the sentence change if the teacher were female?

You only need to change the noun for “teacher” and its article:

• Der Lehrer → Die Lehrerin

The rest of the sentence stays the same:

Die Lehrerin erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich.

Because Lehrerin is feminine:

• Nominative singular: die Lehrerin
• And she is still the subject in nominative, so die is correct.

Could we also say das schwere Thema instead of das schwierige Thema? What is the difference between schwer and schwierig?

Both schwer and schwierig can mean difficult, but they have slightly different flavors:

• schwierig:

  • usually “difficult” in the sense of complicated, hard to understand, challenging.
  • very common for abstract things: eine schwierige Aufgabe, ein schwieriges Thema.

• schwer:

  • literally “heavy”; also used as “difficult”, often a bit more general or serious in tone.
  • also used with physical weight: ein schwerer Koffer (a heavy suitcase).

In this sentence:

• das schwierige Thema = the topic is hard to understand / complex.
• das schwere Thema would be understandable and could mean:
  • either “difficult topic”,
  • or, in some contexts, “emotionally heavy” topic.

The most standard expression for a complex, hard-to-understand topic is das schwierige Thema.

How would you replace das schwierige Thema with a pronoun?

Since Thema is neuter singular, its pronoun is es.

If you have:

Der Lehrer erklärt das schwierige Thema sehr bildlich.

You can later refer to it as:

Er erklärt es sehr bildlich.

Here:

• es stands for das (schwierige) Thema,
• and stays in the accusative as the direct object.