Breakdown of Die Bedenkzeit beträgt eine Minute.
die Minute
the minute
eine
a; (feminine, nominative or accusative)
betragen
to amount to
die Bedenkzeit
the thinking time
Questions & Answers about Die Bedenkzeit beträgt eine Minute.
Why does the sentence start with Die?
Die is the definite article meaning the.
Here it goes with Bedenkzeit, which is a feminine noun:
- die Bedenkzeit = the thinking time / deliberation time
So die is there because:
- German usually uses an article with nouns in normal sentences.
- Bedenkzeit is feminine.
What kind of word is Bedenkzeit?
Bedenkzeit is a compound noun, which is very common in German.
It is made up of:
- Bedenk- from bedenken / nachdenken ideas of thinking or considering
- Zeit = time
So Bedenkzeit is literally something like:
- thinking time
- time to think
- deliberation time
German often combines words like this into one noun.
Why is Bedenkzeit capitalized?
Because it is a noun.
In German, all nouns are capitalized, not just proper names. So both of these are capitalized:
- Bedenkzeit
- Minute
That is standard German spelling.
What does beträgt mean here, and why not just ist?