Breakdown of Die Entwicklung der Stadt ist schnell.
sein
to be
schnell
fast, quickly
die Stadt
the city
die Entwicklung
the development
Questions & Answers about Die Entwicklung der Stadt ist schnell.
How can I tell what gender Entwicklung is without looking it up?
You can tell by the suffix! Any German noun ending in -ung is always feminine. That is why it uses the feminine article die in this sentence.
Why is it der Stadt if Stadt is a feminine noun?
It is because der Stadt is in the genitive case here, showing possession (the development of the city). For feminine nouns, the article die changes to der in both the dative and genitive cases, which can sometimes look like a masculine article at first glance.
What does the -ung ending actually do to the word Entwicklung?
The suffix -ung turns a verb into a noun, similar to the English suffixes -ment or -tion. Here, it takes the verb entwickeln (to develop) and turns it into the noun Entwicklung (development).
Why does schnell not have an adjective ending here, like schnelle?
Because schnell comes after the verb ist (is) and describes the subject, rather than sitting directly in front of a noun. In German, adjectives used like this are called predicative adjectives, and they never take an ending.
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