De berg is steil.

Breakdown of De berg is steil.

zijn
to be
de berg
the mountain
steil
steep
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Questions & Answers about De berg is steil.

What does each word in De berg is steil translate to in English?
De translates as the, berg means mountain, is is the third person singular form of to be (meaning is), and steil means steep.
What is the grammatical structure of the sentence De berg is steil?
The sentence follows a simple Subject-Verb-Predicate structure. De berg serves as the subject, is is the linking verb, and steil is the predicate adjective describing the subject.
Why is the definite article de used with berg instead of het?
In Dutch, nouns have genders. Berg is a common gender noun (masculine or feminine), which takes the article de. The article het is reserved for neuter nouns.
What tense is the verb is in, and what does it indicate about the statement?
The verb is is in the present tense. It indicates that the steepness of the mountain is a current and ongoing state.
How is the adjective steil used in this sentence, and would its form change if used directly before the noun?
In De berg is steil, steil is used as a predicate adjective following the linking verb, so it remains in its base form. If the adjective were used attributively (directly before a noun, as in "a steep mountain"), it might take an inflected form (e.g., steile in "een steile berg").

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