"Was essen sie?"
Translation:What are they eating?
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Isn't that correct considering they don't give you any clues if it is she or they and asking you to choose: Was (essen/isst) sie?
You cannot exchange the verb forms "isst" is 3rd person singular and "essen" is 3rd person plural (out of context it could also be the infinitive and 1st person plural) as it is together with "sie".
"Was essen sie?" and "Was isst sie?" I believe are both correct. When I came across the question in the lesson it was in a question with a drop down that offered both essen and isst (and a third option I don't remember). I chose isst: "What is she eating?"
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The clue or rule is that when you use "Sie" reffering to "you" it must be capitalized. So if it's a -fill in the blank- question, you must pay attention to the capitalization of that specific word "Was essen Sie?" or "Was isst sie?".
There are three "sie"s in German: Sie (you formal), sie (she), sie (they). The conjugation for Sie (you formal) and sie (they) is the same (essen) and for sie (she) it is isst. If they offered both isst and essen either answer should have been marked correct.
For me, this question was presented as a "What do you hear?" format question, therefore there is no way to distinguish between "you" (formal) and "they".
Why does essen come before sie (you) in this sentence. I know that KyKy answered this question, but I don't understand her answer.
Can someone lay it out for me so I can better understand it?
Thanks, Robert
Yeah, just what kyky said. Remember that "Sie" (meaning the formal version of "you") is always capitalized with no exceptions.
The verb needs to be the second constituent in (such) a question. A constituent can be longer than a word. For example "[Welches Buch] [liest] [du]?" - "Which book do you read?" or "[Was für eine Tasche] [kaufst] [du]?" - "What kind of bag are you buying?"
What do you mean by 'A constituent can be longer than a word.?' Can you explain more?
I put the constituents in brackets..For exapmle [Was für ein Buch] is one constituent.
Just for clarification, would "Was isst sie?" mean "What is she eating?"
I was told that sid could be used as a formal you how do i differentiate between the two
I write "What do they eat?" and Duolingo gives "What are they eating?" as another translation How can I know in German that what they want to eat and prepare food?
