Breakdown of Meine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern sich jeden Tag.
der Tag
the day
mein
my; (masculine or neuter, nominative)
sich
themselves
jeden
every; (masculine, accusative)
Questions & Answers about Meine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern sich jeden Tag.
Why is it meine and not mein Deutschkenntnisse?
Mein / meine / mein / meine is the possessive for ich (my). It changes to match the gender, number, and case of the noun:
- Deutschkenntnisse is plural.
- In this sentence, Deutschkenntnisse is the subject → nominative plural.
Nominative plural of mein- is meine.
So we say meine Deutschkenntnisse = my German skills (plural subject), not mein Deutschkenntnisse.
Why is Deutschkenntnisse plural? Can I say Deutschkenntnis?
In practice, Kenntnisse is almost always used in the plural when talking about someone’s skills or knowledge in a subject:
- Kenntnis (singular) = one specific piece of information / a single piece of knowledge
- Kenntnisse (plural) = knowledge, skills (as a general ability)
When you talk about your ability in a language, you mean your overall language skills, so German uses the plural:
- Deutschkenntnisse = your German language skills (overall ability)
Saying Deutschkenntnis here would sound wrong or at least very odd.
What exactly does Deutschkenntnisse mean, literally?