Breakdown of Der Keller ist kalt und dunkel.
sein
to be
und
and
kalt
cold
dunkel
dark
der Keller
the cellar, the basement
Questions & Answers about Der Keller ist kalt und dunkel.
Why don't the adjectives kalt and dunkel have endings here?
In German, adjectives don't get endings when they come after a verb like ist to describe the subject. They only get endings when they are placed directly in front of a noun. Because they sit after the verb here, they stay exactly as they are in the dictionary. If you wanted to say "the cold cellar", it would be der kalte Keller.
I've seen dunkel spelled as dunkl- sometimes. Why didn't it change here?
When dunkel does need an adjective ending (because it is placed in front of a noun), it drops the e before the l to make it easier to say. For example, "a dark cellar" is ein dunkler Keller, not ein dunkeler Keller. Since it takes no ending in this sentence, it simply stays dunkel.
Are Keller and the English word "cellar" related?
Yes, they are! Both come from the same Latin root. You will often see German words starting with K where English uses a "C" because German spelling prefers K for that hard sound.
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