Die Kinder grinsen, weil der Hund im Garten laut gähnt.

the child

Breakdown of Die Kinder grinsen, weil der Hund im Garten laut gähnt.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• der Hund: the dog

Questions & Answers about Die Kinder grinsen, weil der Hund im Garten laut gähnt.

Why is it die Kinder and not der Kinder?

Because Kinder is plural, and in the nominative plural the definite article is die.

• das Kind = the child
• die Kinder = the children

In this sentence, Die Kinder is the subject of grinsen, so it is nominative plural.

Also, Kinder is one of those German plurals that does not add an extra ending beyond -er:

• das Kind
• die Kinder

Why is there a comma before weil?

Because weil introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses are normally separated from the main clause by a comma.

So the sentence is divided like this:

• Die Kinder grinsen = main clause
• weil der Hund im Garten laut gähnt = subordinate clause

German is much stricter about this than English. In a sentence with weil, the comma is required.

Why does gähnt come at the end after weil?