Breakdown of Im Allgemeinen sind die Leute sehr freundlich.
sein
to be
sehr
very
die Leute
the people
freundlich
friendly
im Allgemeinen
in general
Questions & Answers about Im Allgemeinen sind die Leute sehr freundlich.
Why is Allgemeinen capitalized if it is usually an adjective?
In this sentence, the adjective allgemein (general) is turned into a noun. This is called a nominalized adjective. In German, all nouns are capitalized, so it becomes Allgemeinen. The phrase im Allgemeinen is a fixed expression meaning "in general".
Why does the phrase use Im instead of just In?
The word Im is a contraction of the preposition in and the dative article dem. When you turn an adjective into a noun to mean a broad concept, it acts as a neuter noun (das Allgemeine). Because the preposition in triggers the dative case here, das changes to dem, and in plus dem combines into im.
Why does the verb sind come before the subject die Leute?
German main clauses follow the Verb Second rule. Because the phrase Im Allgemeinen takes up the first position in the sentence, the verb sind must take the second position. This pushes the subject die Leute into the third position, right after the verb.
Is there a singular form of die Leute?
No, Leute (people) is a plural-only word, which is why it takes the plural verb sind. If you need to talk about just one person, you cannot use a singular form of this word. Instead, you have to use a different noun entirely, such as die Person or der Mensch.
Learn Im Allgemeinen sind die Leute sehr freundlich and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free