Der Verhandlungsspielraum ist klein.

The negotiating leeway is small.

Breakdown of Der Verhandlungsspielraum ist klein.

• sein: to be
• klein: small
• der Verhandlungsspielraum: the negotiating leeway

Questions & Answers about Der Verhandlungsspielraum ist klein.

Why is it der Verhandlungsspielraum and not die or das?

Because Verhandlungsspielraum is a masculine noun in German, so its nominative singular article is der.

A useful rule for compound nouns is that the last part determines the grammatical gender. Here, the final part is Spielraum, which is masculine, so the whole compound is masculine too:

• der Spielraum
• therefore der Verhandlungsspielraum

In this sentence, it is also the subject, so it is in the nominative case:

• Der Verhandlungsspielraum ist klein.

Is Verhandlungsspielraum really one word?

Yes. In German, it is very common to combine several words into one compound noun.

Here it is made up of:

• Verhandlung = negotiation
• Spielraum = room for maneuver / leeway / scope

So Verhandlungsspielraum is a single noun meaning something like scope for negotiation or negotiating room.

This is normal German spelling. English often uses separate words where German uses one long compound.

How does the compound noun work exactly?