Questions & Answers about Ich kenne sein Alter.
Why is it kenne and not weiß here?
In German, kennen is used for being familiar with a person, place, or thing, or for knowing something as a fact in the sense of being acquainted with it.
So Ich kenne sein Alter means I know his age in the sense that this information is known to me.
wissen is more often used with:
- clauses: Ich weiß, dass er 30 ist.
- question words: Ich weiß, wie alt er ist.
- specific facts stated directly
In many situations, both ideas are close, but in this sentence German naturally uses kennen with the noun phrase sein Alter.
What case is sein Alter, and why?
Sein Alter is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of kennen.
The verb kennen normally takes an accusative object:
- Ich kenne ihn.
- Ich kenne die Stadt.
- Ich kenne sein Alter.
Here:
- Ich = subject, nominative
- kenne = verb
- sein Alter = direct object, accusative
Why is it sein Alter and not seines Alters or something else?