Breakdown of Die schöne Kirche steht der Oper gegenüber.
schön
beautiful
stehen
to stand
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
gegenüber
opposite, across from
die Kirche
the church
die Oper
the opera, opera house
Questions & Answers about Die schöne Kirche steht der Oper gegenüber.
Why is gegenüber at the very end of the sentence?
The word gegenüber (opposite) is flexible: it can go before or after the noun it describes. You could say gegenüber der Oper, but putting it after the noun (der Oper gegenüber) is very common in German, especially with places and people.
Why does the sentence use der Oper if opera is a feminine noun?
You are right that it is die Oper. However, the word gegenüber always forces the noun into the dative case. In the dative case, the feminine article die changes to der.
Why is the ending on schöne just an "-e"?
Die schöne Kirche is the subject of the sentence, which means it is in the nominative case. Because we already have the definite article die (the) doing the work to show the gender and case, the adjective just takes a simple -e ending.
Can I use ist instead of steht here?
You can, and ist would be understood perfectly. But German prefers to be descriptive. For buildings and large objects that are fixed in an upright position, it sounds much more natural to use stehen (to stand) rather than just sein (to be).
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