Die Medienart bestimmt die Leihfrist.

Because both nouns are feminine singular:

• die Medienart = the media type / type of material
• die Leihfrist = the loan period / borrowing period

In German, the definite article must match the noun’s gender, number, and case. Here, both nouns happen to be feminine singular, so both use die.

The subject is die Medienart, and the object is die Leihfrist.

A native English speaker may wonder, because both noun phrases look the same: die + feminine noun. In this sentence, word order helps:

• Die Medienart = subject
• bestimmt = verb
• die Leihfrist = direct object

So the basic pattern is:

Subject + verb + object

German often uses word order to make this clear, especially when the article forms do not visibly distinguish nominative from accusative for feminine nouns.

Because this is a normal German main clause, and in German main clauses the finite verb usually comes in position 2.

So the sentence structure is:

• Position 1: Die Medienart
• Position 2: bestimmt
• Then: die Leihfrist

This is one of the most important German word order rules: the conjugated verb comes second in a main statement.

bestimmt is the 3rd person singular present tense form of bestimmen.

Conjugation of bestimmen in the present tense:

• ich bestimme
• du bestimmst
• er/sie/es bestimmt
• wir bestimmen
• ihr bestimmt
• sie/Sie bestimmen

Since die Medienart is singular, the verb is bestimmt.

Because German very often forms nouns by combining other words into a compound noun.

Here:

• Medien = media / materials
• Art = kind / type

Together, Medienart means something like type of media or type of material.

English often uses separate words, but German commonly packs them into one noun.

Because Medien- here comes from the plural Medien.

German compound nouns do not always use the singular form of the first noun. Sometimes the plural form is used because it sounds more natural or is the established standard term.

So Medienart is the usual word for type/category of media or library material. It is best learned as a fixed vocabulary item.

Leihfrist is another compound noun:

• Leih- relates to lending/borrowing
• Frist = deadline / allotted period / time limit

So Leihfrist means the period of time for which something may be borrowed — often translated as:

• loan period
• borrowing period
• checkout period (in some library contexts)

Because in German, all nouns are capitalized.

So in this sentence:

• Medienart is capitalized
• Leihfrist is capitalized

This is completely normal in German and is a useful clue for spotting nouns.

Yes. Even if the meaning is already known, a learner may notice that German and English do not always match word-for-word. Depending on context, this could be rendered as:

• The type of material determines the loan period.
• The media type determines the borrowing period.
• The item type determines how long it can be borrowed.

In library or catalog contexts, the most natural English wording may depend on local terminology.

The most useful plurals are:

• die Medienart → die Medienarten
• die Leihfrist → die Leihfristen

Examples:

• Die Medienarten sind unterschiedlich.
• Die Leihfristen variieren.

Knowing the plural is helpful because German articles and endings change with number.

Yes, but the emphasis may change.

For example:

Die Leihfrist bestimmt die Medienart.

This would normally mean The loan period determines the media type, which is a different meaning.

Because both noun phrases are feminine singular and use die, this sentence can become ambiguous if you rearrange things without context. In the original sentence, the normal word order makes the meaning clear:

Die Medienart bestimmt die Leihfrist.

So for learners, it is safest to read it as a standard subject–verb–object sentence.

German compound nouns are pronounced as a single word, not as separate words. That is why there is no extra word like of in English.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Leihfrist ≈ lye-frist
• Medienart ≈ MAY-dee-en-art

In compounds, German often puts the main stress on the first part, though the exact rhythm can vary. The important point for a learner is that these are single vocabulary items formed from smaller parts.