Breakdown of Der Verkehr auf der neuen Brücke ist heute sehr langsam.
sein
to be
sehr
very
heute
today
neu
new
langsam
slow, slowly
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
der Verkehr
the traffic
die Brücke
the bridge
Questions & Answers about Der Verkehr auf der neuen Brücke ist heute sehr langsam.
Why is the adjective neuen used here instead of just neu or neue?
It comes directly before the noun in the dative case. When an adjective follows a definite article (like der, dem, or den) in the dative case, it always gets an -en ending, regardless of whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Why does the sentence use der Brücke? I thought Brücke was a feminine word (die Brücke).
You are right, it is feminine! However, we are using the preposition auf (on). Because it describes a fixed location here (where the traffic is), it requires the dative case. In the dative case, the feminine article die changes to der.
If neuen gets an ending, why doesn't langsam get one?
Adjectives only take endings when they sit directly in front of a noun (like der neuen Brücke). When an adjective comes after the verb to describe the subject (like ist ... langsam), it always keeps its basic, dictionary form.
Is the verb ist in the wrong place? It looks like it is the seventh word in the sentence.
It is in the exact right place! In German statements, the verb must be in the second position. However, a position refers to a grammatical block, not just a single word. The entire phrase Der Verkehr auf der neuen Brücke acts as one big subject block in position one, meaning ist correctly takes position two.
Learn Der Verkehr auf der neuen Brücke ist heute sehr langsam and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free