Breakdown of Das Gymnasium in unserer Stadt ist sehr alt.
sein
to be
sehr
very
in
in
alt
old
die Stadt
the city
unser
our
das Gymnasium
the grammar school (academic secondary school)
Questions & Answers about Das Gymnasium in unserer Stadt ist sehr alt.
Why does Gymnasium mean "grammar school" instead of "gym"?
Gymnasium is a classic false friend! In German, it refers to an academic high school or grammar school that prepares students for university. If you want to say "gym" as in a place to work out, use das Fitnessstudio or die Turnhalle (sports hall).
Why is it in unserer Stadt and not in unsere Stadt?
The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Here, it describes a fixed location (answering "where?" or wo?), which requires the dative case. Because Stadt is feminine (die Stadt), the possessive unsere takes the feminine dative ending -er, becoming unserer.
Why doesn't the adjective alt have an ending here?
In German, adjectives only get endings when they appear directly in front of a noun (like ein altes Gymnasium). When an adjective comes after the noun and is linked by a verb like ist (to be), it is called a predicate adjective and stays in its base form without any endings.
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