Breakdown of Die Sicherheit in der Nachbarschaft ist gut.
sein
to be
gut
good / well
in
in
die Sicherheit
the security
Questions & Answers about Die Sicherheit in der Nachbarschaft ist gut.
Why do we use the feminine article die for Sicherheit?
Nouns ending in -heit (like Sicherheit) are always feminine. This is a very reliable rule in German, so you will always use die for them in the nominative case.
Is Nachbarschaft also feminine because of its ending?
Yes! Just like -heit, the suffix -schaft always makes a noun feminine. It is built from der Nachbar (the neighbor) plus -schaft (which acts just like the English suffixes '-hood' or '-ship').
If Nachbarschaft is feminine, why does the sentence say in der Nachbarschaft instead of in die?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because the sentence describes a static location (where the security is good, not a movement into a new place), in triggers the dative case. The dative form of the feminine article die is der.
Both -heit and -keit are used to turn adjectives into nouns. Why is it Sicherheit and not Sicherkeit?