Living with Family and a Pet | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Lebst du mit deiner Familie?

   Do you live with family?

   Lebst

   live

   du

   you

   mit

   with

   deiner

   your

   Familie

   family

   More detail

   Lebst is the present-tense second-person singular form of leben (“to live”). The verb appears before the subject because this is a yes/no question: Lebst du ...? means “Do you live ...?” In a statement, the same forms normally appear as Du lebst ... (“You live ...”). du is the informal singular “you,” used for one person. It is the subject here, and Lebst agrees with it. The formal singular “you” would use a different form, Sie leben. mit means “with” and requires the dative case in German. The next noun phrase therefore takes a dative form. deiner is the form of the possessive determiner dein (“your”) used here. It agrees with the feminine singular noun Familie in the dative case required by mit: mit deiner Familie. The possessive form expresses that the family is associated with the person addressed; it does not itself state a numerical count. Familie means “family.” It is a feminine noun: die Familie. Its plural is Familien, but the form in this utterance is singular, and deiner marks the dative form of this feminine singular noun phrase. Together, Lebst du forms a yes/no question, and mit deiner Familie means “with your family.” The complete utterance is therefore “Do you live with family?”, with the German wording explicitly using “your”: “Do you live with your family?”

2. Ich lebe mit meinem Kind.

   I live with my child.

   Ich

   I

   lebe

   live

   mit

   with

   meinem

   my

   Kind

   child

   More detail

   Ich is the first-person singular pronoun, meaning the speaker. It is the subject here: the speaker is the one who lives. The corresponding plural form is wir (“we”). Example: Ich lerne Deutsch. — “I am learning German.” lebe is the present-tense first-person singular form of leben (“to live”): ich lebe. The ending -e marks this subject in the present tense. Example: Ich lebe in Berlin. — “I live in Berlin.” mit means “with” and introduces accompaniment or shared presence. In German, mit always takes the dative case. Example: Ich lerne mit meiner Freundin. — “I study with my friend.” meinem means “my” in the form required here. It is the dative singular form of the possessive determiner mein. The ending reflects the noun phrase's grammatical form, not a numeric claim: mein Kind is nominative, while mit meinem Kind is dative because of mit. Kind means “child.” It is a neuter noun: das Kind. In the fixed sentence it is singular and appears as Kind in the dative; the dative form has no visible ending change for this noun. The possessive determiner carries the visible dative marking in meinem Kind. Example: Ich spiele mit dem Kind. — “I play with the child.” Together, Ich lebe gives “I live,” and mit meinem Kind adds “with my child.” The complete utterance is therefore “I live with my child.”

3. Gibt es zu Hause auch ein Haustier?

   Is there a pet at home too?

   Gibt es

   is there

   zu Hause

   at home

   auch

   also; too

   Haustier

   pet

   More detail

   Gibt es is the reusable German way to ask whether something exists or is present: “is there ...?” It uses gibt, the present-tense third-person singular form of geben (“to give”), but in this construction the whole expression means “there is/are.” The question pattern is Gibt es + thing?, for example: Gibt es hier WLAN? — “Is there Wi-Fi here?” zu Hause is a fixed adverbial expression meaning “at home.” It describes the place where the thing is being asked about. Example: Ich bin zu Hause. — “I am at home.” auch means “also” or “too.” Here it gives the question an additive meaning: the speaker asks whether a pet is present at home as well. Its position can vary with emphasis, but in this sentence it comes before the noun phrase. Haustier means “pet.” It is a neuter noun: das Haustier; its plural is die Haustiere. The word is a compound formed from Haus (“house/home”) and Tier (“animal”), but its established meaning is a domesticated animal kept as a companion. Example: Ein Haustier braucht Pflege. — “A pet needs care.” The phrase ein Haustier means “a pet.” ein is the indefinite article used here with the neuter noun Haustier; by itself, it does not assert a numerical count as a teaching point. In the question pattern, Gibt es zu Hause auch ein Haustier? combines the existence question, the location zu Hause, the additive meaning auch, and the thing whose presence is being asked about, ein Haustier. The complete meaning is: “Is there a pet at home too?”

4. Wir haben einen kleinen Hund.

   We have a small dog.

   Wir

   we

   haben

   have

   kleinen

   small

   Hund

   dog

   More detail

   Wir means “we” and is the first-person plural subject pronoun. It includes the speaker and at least one other person, but this sentence does not specify who else is included. Compare ich (“I”) for one speaker and wir (“we”) for a group. haben is the present-tense form of haben (“to have”) used with wir: wir haben. The same verb has ich habe (“I have”) and sie haben (“they have”). Example: Wir haben Zeit. — “We have time.” kleinen means “small” here. Its base form is the adjective klein; the ending in kleinen is an inflection of the adjective, not part of the base form. In einen kleinen Hund, Hund is masculine singular and the noun phrase is accusative, so the adjective takes the ending -en. Example: Ich sehe einen kleinen Hund. — “I see a small dog.” Hund means “dog.” Its base noun form is also Hund; here it is masculine singular and functions as the direct object of haben. The form einen is the masculine singular accusative form of the indefinite article in this noun phrase. An indefinite article introduces an unspecified referent; it should not by itself be treated as a stated numerical count. Example: Der Hund schläft. — “The dog is sleeping.” Together, Wir haben gives “We have,” and einen kleinen Hund gives “a small dog.” The whole utterance is therefore: “We have a small dog.”

5. Wie verstehen sie sich?

   How do they get along?

   Wie

   how

   verstehen

   understand

   sie

   they

   sich

   each other

   More detail

   Wie asks about manner or the way something happens. Here it asks about the quality of a relationship: “how?” Compare Wie geht es dir? — “How are you?” verstehen is the present-tense form used with plural sie (“they”). In this form, it is spelled like the infinitive verstehen, “to understand.” With the reflexive sich, however, sich verstehen can mean “to get along” when the participants are people. Sie is written lowercase in the fixed sentence as sie, and here it means “they,” as confirmed by the fixed translation. Lowercase sie can also mean “she” in another context; capitalized Sie is the formal “you.” The intended reading here is plural “they.” Sich is the third-person reflexive form. With a plural subject in sich verstehen, it refers back to the people represented by sie and contributes the reciprocal meaning “each other.” Example: Die beiden verstehen sich gut. — “The two of them get along well.” The adverb gut makes the positive quality explicit; the fixed sentence asks about the quality without stating the answer. Together, Wie asks “how,” and verstehen ... sich forms the expression sich verstehen, meaning “to get along” here. Sie identifies the people involved. The whole utterance therefore means: “How do they get along?” It is a present-time question about their relationship and does not state whether it is good or bad.

6. Sie spielen jeden Tag zusammen.

   They play together every day.

   Sie

   they

   spielen

   play

   Tag

   day

   zusammen

   together

   More detail

   Sie means “they” here, as fixed by the translation. In German, the same written form can also be the formal “you” (singular or plural), so the surrounding verb and context matter. Here spielen is the third-person plural present-tense form of spielen (“to play”), which supports the meaning “they play.” Example: Sie lernen. — “They study.” spielen is the present form used for an action that is happening generally or regularly. The base form is spielen; with sie meaning “they,” it takes the ending -en: sie spielen. Example: Wir spielen zusammen. — “We play together.” Tag means “day.” In jeden Tag, it appears in the masculine accusative form required by this time expression: the masculine noun der Tag becomes jeden Tag. This expression means “every day,” while ein Tag means “one day” or “a day” in other contexts; the indefinite article itself does not automatically assert a numerical count here. zusammen means “together.” It is an adverb and commonly describes people doing an activity jointly. Example: Die Kinder lernen zusammen. — “The children study together.” The chunks combine as Sie spielen (“they play”), jeden Tag (“every day”), and zusammen (“together”). In the German word order, the frequency expression comes before zusammen, producing the complete meaning: “They play together every day.”