Breakdown of Die Sonne kommt aus dem Osten.
kommen
to come
aus
from / out of (made of)
die Sonne
the sun
der Osten
the east
Questions & Answers about Die Sonne kommt aus dem Osten.
Why is it dem Osten (Dative) if the sun is moving? Shouldn't motion mean Accusative?
That rule only applies to two-way prepositions! The preposition aus (from / out of) is a strict Dative preposition. It always takes the Dative case, regardless of movement. Furthermore, the motion rule for Accusative specifically answers Wohin? (To where?), but this sentence answers Woher? (From where?).
How would I say the sun goes TO the west using the rules from this lesson?
To express moving towards a compass direction, you can use the two-way preposition in with the Accusative case. Since compass directions are masculine, you use den: Die Sonne geht in den Westen. (Note: You will also frequently hear Germans use the preposition nach without any article for this: nach Westen).
Is the word for 'east' just Ost or Osten?
As a standalone noun, the compass directions end in -en: der Norden, der Süden, der Osten, and der Westen. You will often see the shorter forms (like Ost) used in compound words, like Ostdeutschland (East Germany), but when used as an independent noun in a sentence like this, you need the full version.
Are all compass directions masculine?
Yes, all four cardinal directions are masculine (der). Because the preposition aus always forces the Dative case, der changes to dem. This means you will use this exact same pattern for all of them: aus dem Süden, aus dem Norden, and aus dem Westen.
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